Hands Down
by oceaneyes85253
Summary: During the summer of Bella's junior year, the Cullens and a family of three mysterious people with purple eyes both move to Forks. Bella and Edward fall for each other, but their relationship is threatened when a boy with purple eyes wants Bella.
1. The Cullens

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse (which is coming out soon!) because my name is not Stephenie Meyer, and if it were, why would I be here writing fanfics? I would be doing better things with my time, like working on Breaking Dawn or Edward's version of everything.

Chapter 1: The Cullens

It was summer in Forks, meaning there was a slight chance of sun out of the normally rainy days that we normally have throughout the rest of the year. I had just had breakfast and was getting ready to call my best friends: Adelle and Jade to see if they wanted to drive down to the nearest water park because it wasn't raining. I picked up my black Samsung Stripe and dialed Jade's number first.

It rang twice until Jade picked up. "Bueno," Jade said into the phone. She and I enjoyed speaking in Spanglish to each other, a bad habit we had picked up during our sophomore year of high school.

"Hola Jade, hold on, let me get Adelle," I replied as I put Jade on hold and called Adelle and put her onto a conference call.

"Hey, Jade and Bella, what's up?" Adelle asked.

"Hey, Bells and Adie. Not much. I just let out Pepper (her dog, a Yorkshire Terrier) and was getting ready to sit down in front of the TV and watch Henry Cavill in 'I Capture the Castle', man that boy is hot!" Jade replied.

"Well, rethink that. Want to drive to the nearest water park for the day?" I asked.

"Bella, that's a great idea. You should invite the new kids. Doctor Cullen, who will be working at the hospital, and his family just moved in down the street from us (AN, I know they live way in the woods, but pretend they live somewhere_ closer_ to Bella that she can get to by walking. It's still a huge house; it's just closer into town.) And he has two kids your age and three kids a year older. I'm sure they'd love to tag-along." My mom said as she came into the room.

"Well, guys, what do you think?" I asked Jade and Adelle.

"Sure, I guess. Go ask them and we'll come meet you at your house around 1:00," Adelle told me.

"Okay, hablaré con ustedes later!" I told them as I hung up the phone (AN, Translation: I'll talk to you guys later).

"It's just down the way, Bella. Go right when you leave the house and follow the road until you see a break in the woods on the right. There will be a dirt path that leads about one hundred feet into the woods and you'll see the house. Tell their parents that they are free to come over anytime." My mom told me as she kissed me on the cheek and walked me to the door.

"Okay, thanks, Mom. Love you!" I told her as I headed towards the Cullen house.

My mom's directions were head-on. I followed the road until I came to a break in the trees and I saw two ancient-looking trees that created an archway towards a long dirt path. I started to walk down the path and about a hundred feet or so, I saw a large white house looming in front of me. As I came closer I saw the intricate details of the house.

It was a beautiful, white, Victorian style house with a large wrap-around porch and a ton of large windows. The front yard looked like a vast meadow and I swore I could hear a creek flowing in the backyard.

I walked up the front steps and half-expected them to creak as my navy blue flip-flops touched the antique-looking wood. I was amazed by the soundlessness of my steps. I took a deep breath as I rung the newly installed doorbell. I heard it ring a tune as the bells echoed through the house and then footsteps and shouting as someone bounded to the door to answer it.

"Hi, my name is Esme, you must be one of the neighbors," A beautiful woman with soft billows of caramel-colored hair and a soft-looking face told me.

"Hi. I'm Bella Swan, the Chief of Police's daughter. We live down the street. I was planning on going to a water park with a couple of my friends and my mom had mentioned that there were a couple of teens our age here, and we were wondering if they wanted to come with us." I told Esme.

"Um, let me see. ALICE, EDWARD!" Esme yelled into the house, to her children my age, I presumed.

"Yes, Mom?" I heard a boy ask, with a voice that sounded like it could only come from angels. I stepped a little to the side in hopes of seeing the boy but before I could get a look, a beautiful girl with pale skin, pixy-like black hair, and vibrant blue eyes ran outside to greet me (AN, in this story, they are all human, and since we don't know what color Alice's eyes are, I'm making them blue…please don't hate me.).

"Hi! I'm Alice! You live down the street? Please tell me you are going to be a junior at Forks High; it would be so nice to know someone! Oh I love your shirt!" The extremely hyper girl told me.

"Hi, Alice. I'm Bella. And yes, I live down the street and I will be a junior at Forks High also. And thank you, my friend Jade forced me into this shirt," I replied.

"Alice, calm down. Give her a chance to breathe," the boy said and as he stepped out of the house, I gasped. He was absolutely _beautiful_. He had bronze hair and bright green eyes that contrasted with his pale skin amazingly. He was still a bit boyish but looked much older than I did and wasn't too lanky or too bulky.

"It's okay. I like her so far," I replied.

"My name's Edward. It's nice to meet you, Bella," Edward told me, smiling a crooked smile that I automatically fell in love with.

"Hi. I was just wondering if you guys wanted to come with me and my friends to the water park for the day," I told them.

"I'd love to!" Alice exclaimed.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. Let me see if Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie want to come with us," Edward replied. I couldn't help but notice that when Edward said he'd go, he looked right at me. _But I highly doubt that anyone as amazing as Edward Cullen would like me, plain old Isabella Marie Swan_.

"Sure. I'm sure Jade and Adelle would love to meet them as well," I added.

"Come on, Bella. Let's go up to my room and I can help you pick out a swimsuit!" Alice told me as she took my hand and led me upstairs.

"But I already have a swimsuit!" I protested.

"Yes, but I have the perfect one for you. Besides, Edward obviously likes you and you'll want to look your best," Alice explained.

"Come on, there's no way Edward likes me. I'm so average!" I replied.

"I saw the way he was looking at you. He obviously likes you," Alice told me.

"Seriously? Are you sure?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes. Now come on! This one looks perfect!" Alice told me, pulling out a plain black bikini set with boy shorts from Victoria's Secret.

"Alice, I can't wear this," I told her, holding up the bikini as if it were radioactive.

"Yes you can, and you will. Just try in on, trust me, you'll look amazing!" Alice replied as she pushed me into her bathroom, which I may add, was HUGE! It was bigger than my own bedroom and our living room combined!

I put on the swimsuit beyond my own accord; by I figured that if I hadn't, Alice would have probably forced me into it. To my intense surprise, I loved how it looked. It made me look almost like a model!

"How does it look?" Alice asked from behind the door.

"Alice, you are brilliant, it looks amazing!" I replied back.

"Good, I'm already changed, so you can come out," Alice told me. She had put on a pink string bikini with a pair of dark wash jean shorts and a white tank top with Hawaii on the front. She handed me a pair of medium wash jean shorts and a periwinkle blue tank top with HCO and a palm tree on the front.

"Wow, Alice, you look great!" I told her.

"Thanks, you look amazing as well. Wait until Edward sees you, he's going to go nuts!" Alice exclaimed as she pulled me downstairs.

"Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper said they'd come too. Bella, where are we meeting your friends?" Edward asked from the kitchen.

"They are going to be over at my house in about a half an hour. We should probably eat before we leave for the water park," I explained.

"Sounds good. Do you guys want me to make you some lunch? I can barbeque some burgers and hotdogs. I know we have fries in the freezer. I hope you like baked fries, Bella, I don't usually keep real French Fries in the house, normally," Esme told me.

"Oh baked is preferred, anyway. Let me call up Jade and Adelle and see if they want to join," I replied.

"Okay. Edward, Rose, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Bella, do you guys want hamburgers, hotdogs, and fries?" Esme asked.

"Yeah! Give me five hamburgers!" Emmett called as he ran into the room in a pair of green swim trunks and a white t-shirt. He had a girl in tow, Rosalie, I presumed, who was in a burgundy string bikini with a white flower on her bikini top. Rosalie was absolutely gorgeous too, like supermodel gorgeous. I couldn't believe it was possible to be that pretty. Suddenly Emmett grabbed Rosalie and kissed her forcefully. Now I was confused. Weren't they like, related?

"Bella, don't worry, they are all adopted. I can't have children, so I've cared for Edward, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper as if they were my own since they were young. Rose and Jasper are twins and they are the Hales, my niece and nephew. Edward, Emmett, and Alice are the Cullens," Esme explained to me.

"And Jasper is my boyfriend," Alice told me.

"Oh, okay. I was slightly grossed out for a minute," I told them.

"Don't worry. We are all mostly normal here," Edward replied. "Minus Emmett, I think he was dropped on his head too many times as a baby."

"I RESENT THAT!" Emmett exclaimed as he punched Edward lightly in the shoulder.

"Ow, my ego!" Edward replied, rubbing his arm.

"Baby," Emmett accused.

"Boys, behave yourselves, we have a guest!" Esme said, calling them to order.

"Sorry, Mom," both boys said in unison.

"Now behave, I'm going to go cook the food," Esme replied.

"Wait, let me call Jade and Adelle!" I said as I pulled out my phone and called them. They both said they'd just meet me at the house at the designated time and they couldn't wait to meet the Cullens.

"Are they coming?" Esme asked.

"No, they are going to meet us at my house. Oh, speaking of which, my mom said she would love to meet you, Esme," I told her.

"Oh, of course. Alright, let me get the food going," Esme replied as she took our orders and took the food outside to be cooked.

"Alright, who wants French fries?" Alice yelled out as she pulled out a bag of baked shoestring fries from the freezer. We all started shouting out replies.

"I think we'll need more than one bag, Alice. Especially with Emmett's appetite." Edward told her.

"I agree, bake me three bags!" Emmett requested.

"Emmett, you want to be strong, not overweight. Ease it up on the food," Rosalie commented

"How about I make two bags?" Alice asked.

"Good idea," I replied. "I'll help you."

"Okay."

About 15 minutes later the food was ready because Alice and I pan-fried the French Fries. They were actually really good. And Esme's barbeque was amazing. We all argued over the food like we'd known each other all of our lives when in reality it was more like 45 minutes. Once we were done we left for my house in Edward's Volvo to go meet Jade and Adelle and then we would split into two cars and leave for the water park.


	2. Slides

Chapter 2: Slides

We got to my house 5 minutes before Adelle and Jade were supposed to meet us and we all piled out of the car and into my house to await the arrival of my two friends.

"Bella, Honey, is that you?" My mom called from the kitchen as the Cullens and I walked in.

"Yeah Mom, I'm here. I brought the Cullens. We are waiting for Jade and Adelle and then we are going to leave for the water park." I replied.

"Oh, I'm coming. I want to meet them!" My mom said before I heard footsteps and her cursing after tripping over a floorboard.

"Mom, these are Edward, Emmett, and Alice Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. Carlisle and Esme adopted them when they were young. Esme also said she would love to meet you. You should go over and talk after we leave, you'll love their house. It's beautiful." I explained to her.

"It's very nice to meet you. Where did you all come from before this?" She asked.

"We lived in Alaska for the past couple of years. Because of our dad's job, we have to move around a lot. They found me in Chicago first, and then Jasper and Rose in Rochester, and Alice in Biloxi, and finally Emmett in Tennessee. We finally moved to Alaska to live with family for the past 8 years until Dad got a job offer here in Forks, and Mom's always liked small towns, so this place seemed perfect for us," Edward explained.

"Wow, that's a lot of moving," my mom said.

We couldn't continue because the ringing of the doorbell interrupted our conversation. I yelled out "Got it," and ran for the door, knowing it was Jade and Adelle.

"Hey Bells!" Jade said when I opened the door.

"Hey guys, you need to meet the Cullens now," I told them. "Jade and Adele, meet Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward." Everyone waved when his or her name was said.

"It's so nice to meet more people who are going to our high school! Least I won't be lonely on the first day," Alice said, obviously excited.

"She's really hyper, you get used to that," Emmett explained.

"Come on, let's leave for the water park. If we wait too long, we won't have enough time there," I told them.

"Which one are we going to?" Adelle asked.

"Wild Waves in Federal Way. It's the closest one, only 3 hours and 45 minutes away (AN, I map quested it and searched for the nearest water park. I found one water park that was almost 7 hours away!)," I replied.

"Sounds good. Whose car has the best gas mileage?" Jade asked.

"Well, I have a BMW M3, and I get 20 MPG on the highway," Rosalie said.

"Volvo, with 23 on the highway," Edward told us.

"Let's not even consider my truck. It gets awful mileage. I'm saving up to buy a Mazda 3 hatchback this year. My parents said they would split the cost with me. I've had to work overtime at Newton's this summer," I said.

"Ugh, yeah, Bella's car is a beast. I drive a Jetta, which gets 28," Jade said.

"Mini Cooper, which gets 30," Adelle said.

"I think we should take the Jetta and the Mini Cooper. The Jetta has 5 seats and the Mini has 4 seats. We'll have one extra seat," I said.

"Sounds good, Edward, Bella, Jade, Jasper, and I will take the Jetta. Rosalie, Emmett, and Adelle will take the Mini. How's that sound?" Alice asked.

"Sure. Hey, Jade, do you have that iPod adaptor for the Jetta?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't charge it," Jade explained.

"It's okay, my Nano gets something ridiculous like 24 hours of battery," I replied.

"Don't worry about it, I have an iPod charger for the cigarette lighter in a car. What songs do you have?" Edward asked.

"True, Edward is the king of music. You should see his room, Bella. He has an entire wall of CD's and he plays piano. Are you like emo or something, Edward?" Alice asked.

"Haha. I'm not emo. I just like music," Edward replied, flicking Alice in the head.

"Jeez, Edward, child abuse!" Alice exclaimed.

"How is it child abuse if you're older?" Edward asked.

"Because I'm smaller! Besides, anyone would think that I'm 12 by just looking at my height and then there's Edward, who's 6 flipping 2!" Alice replied.

"Not my fault you're a midget (AN, I'm not trying to offend anyone…I usually stray away from offensive terms, but midget just seemed to work…)," Edward told her.

"GRR!" Alice growled.

"Aw, what a cute kitty!" Emmett said, patting Alice's head.

"Hey! I'm not a kitty! That growl was supposed to be menacing!" Alice replied.

"Sorry, Alice, it wasn't," I told her.

"Dang."

"Midgets just aren't scary, Alice," Emmett told her, patting her head again.

"I'M NOT 5 EMMETT! I'M 16! DON'T PAT MY HEAD!" Alice exclaimed, attacking Emmett.

"You realize those punches are doing nothing? I can't even feel them," Emmett told her.

"I know something you'll feel," Alice said, pulling her leg back, aiming for his "ouch spot" (AN, a couple Fridays ago, my friend and I were closing up after open gym, and we were in the kitchen area, and she had opened a drawer to a file cabinet where we kept the bowls—don't ask—and she walked away for a second because someone had called her name, and so one of the coaches, who's a guy, walked into the drawer because he wasn't paying attention, and it hit him in that um, area…and so he and his cousin called it the ouch spot. It was even funnier seeing him lying on the ground for five minutes refusing to get up. Oh well, he's had worse, one time, one of the gym owner's kids was punching him in the stomach cause the kid was bored, and he missed. I laughed for five minutes…wow that sounds mean. Don't worry; he and I are really close. Shree, I know you're laughing at this as you are reading this, so be quiet. And I'll be getting a phone call later. I know it. Very long author's note is over now!) before I put my leg in front of hers to stop her.

"Alice, kicking Emmett's crotch isn't a good idea. It will only get Rosalie angrier," I told her.

"Oh, true. Well, least Emmett isn't in our car. Come on, let's go. I checked. They have late night sliding, though. There are going to be fireworks and a 'Dive-in Movie' around 9 tonight. We should all stay at our house when we get back. There's definitely enough space," Alice said.

"Okay, come on," Jasper replied as he took Alice's hand and we headed out for Jade's black Turbo Jetta and Emmett, Rosalie, and Adelle left for her red Mini with white racing stripes.

We piled into the car and Jade turned around and asked for my black Nano. I gave it to her and she asked which playlist to put it on. I told her to play my "road trip music" and the first song that came on was "Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?" by Fall Out Boy from their newest CD, Infinity On High.

"Oh, I love this song!" Alice exclaimed as the song sped up.

"Alice, you love a lot of songs," Edward told her.

"I know. That's why my iPod is full of so much music. Least I don't listen to the Spice Girls," Alice argued.

"I only have one Spice Girls album! And I know for a fact you have Brittney Spears and Backstreet Boys!" Edward replied back.

"I'm not sure about Brittney Spears, but I know Backstreet Boys are an American Girl's pastime," I told him.

"I agree. Rosalie has some Backstreet Boys," Jasper added.

"Jasper, not helping," Edward replied.

"I agree with Alice, Jasper, and Bella. Edward, you're done," Jade told him.

"Gosh guys, just gang up on me, why don't you," Edward rebuked, pretending to look hurt.

"Oh shut it," I told him, smacking him playfully.

The next song that came on was "These Walls" by Teddy Geiger.

"Oh goodness, this boy is gorgeous!" Alice exclaimed as the song started.

"I know, if there is any boy you can call that, it's Teddy Geiger," I replied, earning glares from Edward and Jasper. Jade laughed.

"Bella, I think you should apologize to the less attractive guys in this car before they pummel you," she told me.

"Yeah, I don't think they liked that. It must have wounded their precious egos," Alice said.

"Oh well, they can deal with it," I replied.

We continued our playful banter as the songs shuffled through the speakers and Edward and Jasper would make remarks once in a while when they would find a song they either liked or disliked. Alice and Jade enjoyed it, though.

We had to make a bathroom stop halfway because Jasper didn't use the bathroom before we left. Then 10 minutes later we got a call—from an angry Rosalie—that Emmett had spent the last bathroom stop running around the gas station dancing to the music that was playing and he needed to go to the bathroom. We pulled into a rest stop and watched as Emmett jumped out of the car and ran straight for the bathroom. Too bad he wasn't paying attention, therefore the bathroom he ran into happened to be the women's restroom. It took him a grand total of two seconds to realize his mistake before he ran out of the room screaming. To make this whole event even better, there was a hoard of teenage girls running after him begging for his phone number.

"Aren't you going to tell them something?" Jade asked Rosalie.

"Not yet. This will give him both a good exercise and teach him a lesson on not running around being an idiot when he should be emptying his bladder," she replied.

"That's diabolical, Rosalie. Maybe I should find a way to torture Jasper…" Alice mused.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to find things to do to him while we are at the water park. There's a multitude of ways to torture him. Maybe you should set him up with an old woman, or an eight year old," I told her.

"That's brilliant! I'll think of something," Alice replied.

"Hey guys, don't get too ahead of yourselves. What has he done to you, Alice?" Rosalie asked.

"He took my hairspray and replaced it with silver spray paint. Oh, and the time he put superglue on my hairbrush. He deserves it!" Alice said.

"That wasn't Jasper, that was me!" Emmett shouted from the bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm a bit above messing with your hair products. Besides, my specialty is bucket above the door. Remember, Rosalie?" Jasper replied.

"Ugh, don't remind me. Oatmeal is a bitch to get out of hair!" Rosalie exclaimed.

"Or the time he used peanut butter," Alice reminded her.

"And the whipped cream," Rosalie said.

"The worst was the time he and Emmett teamed up and used blue raspberry slushy," Alice said.

"Oh my gosh, that was terrible! It took me three weeks and two bottles of hair dye to get me hair back to its normal color. It had a strange blue tint for the longest time," Rosalie remembered.

"Blue raspberry slushy? WHAT? I really don't want to know what went through their minds. What about Edward? Did he have any part in that?" I asked.

"No, our brother has been very nonexistent in Emmett and Jasper's torture schemes. He's been a very good little brother," Rosalie explained.

"Yeah, and a little prude. Never had a girlfriend to bring home. Maybe we should set you two up, he wouldn't be a prude if he had someone to be with," Alice said.

"Alice, don't set him up if he doesn't want to be with me," I told her.

"But I'm so sure he likes you…" Alice told me.

"Bella is right, let him decide for himself. But I agree with Alice," Rosalie said.

"He won't like me once the girls at school see him. He'll be the most sought after guy. He won't want me after school starts," I replied, looking down.

"You are such a pessimist, Bella, you are beautiful, and don't let those kids at school tell you otherwise. You just don't see yourself clearly," Alice told me.

"I wouldn't listen to Bella. Mike Newton has the biggest crush on Bella. Same with Tyler and Eric. They absolutely love Bella," Adelle said.

"That's _your_ theory. I think Mike Newton is just too friendly," I told them.

"He loves you," Jade added.

"_Thanks_," I replied.

"Your welcome," they replied.

"Alright, we're done!" Emmett said as he and Jasper left the bathroom. Edward came to my side and smiled at me while we walked to the car.

We drove the remaining distance until we saw the sign for the water park looming in the distance. We could see Emmett spazzing out in the Mini from where we were. It was hilarious. The Mini was shaking from all of the impact. We parked next to Adelle's car and got out to see Adelle smacking Emmett for nearly causing her to get into an accident. Alice interrupted my train of thought by dragging me to the entrance area to get our wristbands for the day. We got bright pink wristbands for the day and time that we came and Alice paid for the late night events. Emmett was happy to find out that dinner was included. Apparently the park hired various cooks and adults to make barbeque chicken, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs for those paying for the late night events. We all walked over to the locker areas where Alice told me that it was time to take off my outer clothes and show off my swimsuit.

"Can't I just go in these?" I asked, pointing to my shirt and shorts.

"No, cause you'll be soaking in the car on the way home. I brought a spare bra and underwear for you for that reason. Now come on, show everyone how amazing you look in that bikini," Alice replied as she pulled off her own shirt and shorts.

"But you look great in yours. I don't look that great in mine," I told her.

"Bella, you look amazing in that swimsuit. Come on, you can't go near the water slides until you take off those clothes," Alice replied.

"Ugh, fine. But if anyone makes fun of me, I will personally come after said person," I threatened.

"Come on, Bella," Rosalie encouraged. "I'm sure you look great, I trust Alice to not make you look bad."

I gave Alice one more glare before I pulled my shirt off and took off my shorts. I swear I saw about 5 guys around me, not including Edward, Jasper, and Emmett, whose eyes bugged when they saw my now-exposed body. I smiled sheepishly at the ground as I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and let it fan out around my shoulder in dark brown cascades. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett whisper something in Edward's ear before Edward punched him.

"Oh my gosh Bella, you look amazing!" Adelle told me.

"Sí, eres muy hermosa," Jade added (AN, translation: yes, you are very beautiful) causing me to blush ten shades darker.

"Told you!" Alice said in a singsong voice.

"You do look great, Bella," Emmett said, earning a slap from Rosalie.

"I'm you girlfriend, Emmett!"

"What? She does!"

"You do look amazing," Edward told me.

"I agree," Jasper added.

"Yeah, Bella, Alice does wonders. Not that you weren't pretty before, don't worry," Rosalie told me.

"Thanks guys, come on, I want to get on those slides," I told them as I headed for the biggest one in the center of the park.

It was a doubles slide, so we had to partner up. Jade partnered with Adelle, and then Alice with Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie. That left Edward and me. He smiled sheepishly as he pulled out a raft for us and picked me up and set me onto the raft. I was a bit discerned by the stuttering of my heart when his hands touched my sides. It was ridiculous; I'd only known the guy for what, a few hours? I couldn't because attracted to him within that short amount of time.

"I could have done it," I told him.

"I know. But I wanted to help," he replied.

"Why?"

"It's not because of the fact that you look amazing in that bikini, not that you don't."

"Then why? You haven't answered my question yet," I reminded him.

"You want to know why?"

"Yes."

"Too bad. I think I'll wait a bit before I tell you."

"Is this one of those 'if I tell you, I'll have to kill you' things?" I asked.

"Possibly."

"Then I think I'll take my chances."

"Maybe because I wanted to help you. I want us to be friends. I want to get closer to you," he trailed off.

"Aw, Edward, that's so cute!" I told him, pinching his cheek playfully.

"Thanks. Come on, the guy's waving us down."

We pushed off towards the slide since we were already in the water and then we were off. It was one of those dark covered slides with light like stars that shone through the spaces where the nails were hammered into the plastic.

At one point there was a fast dip and I grabbed a portion of the tube next to me, which ended up being part of Edward's leg. I tried not to notice how nice it felt to touch him.

I gulped when I saw the rapids in front of us that pushed us up. _Gosh this was a long ride_. Those rapids always tended to give me wedgies, and there was no way I was pulling one of those with Edward within visual distance of me.

"Shit," Edward said as we went up.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that thing will pull my trunks down." (AN, when I went to Sunsplash with my summer camp I rode on one of those huge waterslides with my friend Jordan, a guy, and we had to go up one of those rapid things and he was complaining how his shorts felt like they were getting pulled down. So long story short, they didn't fall down, but after that I yelled at him cause there was _no_ way I was going to be near him if he became naked. Good thing he's not reading this…)

"They'd better not. I don't want to explain to Alice about your lack of clothing and my possible wedgie when we get off this slide."

"True. She'd automatically assume that we had been having sex. Then Emmett would start cracking jokes about how short that must have been since it obviously hadn't lasted the entire slide. Gosh, why is this thing taking so long?" Edward added.

"Don't know. I think I see a light up there. Not that I don't mind being on here with you. It's been very fun."

"Why thank you, Bella. I've enjoyed your company too. Would you like to be my slide partner for the rest of today?" He asked.

"It would be my pleasure," I replied, smiling.

"I like your smile. You should smile more often."

"Thanks," I replied, blushing five shades. He smiled a crooked smile at me that made my heart flutter. By that time we had left the ride and I got thrown off the raft. He quickly caught me before I could swallow any water, though. Alice and Jasper were waiting for us next to everyone else.

"Come on, let's go to the wave pool!" Alice said as she walked with Jasper next to her towards the wave pool.

"Sounds good to me, come on, Bella!" Edward replied as he picked me up and carried me bridal style towards the wave pool.

"Hey, you'd better not drop me! I'm going to be forced to hurt you if you do!" I told him.

"We'll see," he replied before walking up to the side and jumping in with me in his arms.

But when we came out, the entire world seemed to slow down. All I could think of was the fact that Edward had him arms around me and we were within inches of each other. I could have literally leaned in a few centimeters and we would have kissed. But things never work out that well. I heard a horribly familiar voice calling my name, causing me to snap out of my own little world. _Jessica Stanley_,the spawn of the underworld with the sole purpose of torturing me.

AN, okay two things: longest chapter I've ever written, so encouragement to keep writing would be lovely. And the second thing is I've updated my profile, I've been putting in pictures of people whom I think would resemble the people in my stories. All of the work is tentative, so it gets updated when I'm not using my Mac, because doesn't like Safari. Oh, and by the way, check out this song called "Broken" by Seether featuring Amy Lee. It reminds me _so_ much of New Moon, it's nuts. So yeah…that's pretty much it.


	3. Stories

Chapter 3: Stories

"Bella? Bella! Hey, how have you been? And who's this?" Jessica asked, feigning happiness from seeing me.

"Edward Cullen, I'm new here. My family and I just moved here this week," Edward told her.

"There's more of him?" She asked.

"Yeah, I have two other sister and two other brothers," he replied.

"I'm Jessica Stanley. You _must_ hang out with us today. You can invite your siblings, too. Bella, I'm sure you'd understand."

"Us?" I asked.

"Why, me and Lauren," she replied.

"Oh, lovely. You know what, Edward? Don't let me hold you back, you can go if you want," I told him, pretty much wanting to cry.

"No really, Bella, it's okay. I want to stay with you," he told me.

"Guys, what's going on?" Alice asked.

"Hi, I'm Jessica, I'll be going to school with you. Lauren and I wanted to invite you and your siblings to come hang out with us today," Jessica told her, smiling.

"What about Bella? We came here with Adelle and Jade," Alice said.

"Bella has Adelle and Jade. I'm sure she can manage," Jessica added.

"Let me talk to Bella, hold on," Alice told her, pulling Edward and me aside.

"Alice, you can go if you want. Don't worry about me," I told her.

"I really don't want to go. I mean, I've only known the girl for five minutes and I already know I don't like her. But she sure likes you, Edward," Alice said.

"I know. But I want to hang out with you, Bella," he told me.

"It's okay. We have all day, go hang out with them," I told him.

"Do you like them?" Alice asked.

"Truthfully, no. Jessica tried to use me to get Mike's attention, and then when Mike started liking me a lot more than he liked her, she started hating me too. But that doesn't mean you have to hate her. Go hang out with them, I'll be fine."

"If you're sure," Alice said.

No, I wasn't. I didn't want Edward to go off with them. I didn't know if whether or not I liked him, and I was thinking it was the latter. But I also knew that he might not like me back. Actually, screw might, he probably didn't like me back. If he found out I thought I liked him, he'd probably think I was some lovesick puppy. But I wanted him to be happy, even if I wasn't. I guess it was only fair. I mean, I can still be friends with him, right? Too bad I'm getting that burning sensation in my heart when I think about letting him be with Lauren or Jessica. Or maybe I've swallowed too much salt water. Whatever the answer was, I knew I had to tell Alice. I figured that no would be out of the question, so my only possible response was yes. I'd just talk to Alice about everything later. She'd understand.

"Yeah, I'm sure." It burned to say that. Edward looked kind of hurt as he and Alice went over to Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett and walked over to where Jessica and Lauren were standing.

I watched as they walked away and all I wanted to do was go home and yell at myself for wanting to invite the Cullens to the park with us. Of course, I'm happy to have met Alice, but if I hadn't met Edward, I wouldn't be having this heartbreak.

"Bella, where is everyone?" Jade asked.

"Jessica and Lauren invited them to hang out," I told her.

"They just ditched us?" Adelle asked.

"No, Alice and Edward weren't sure. But I told them to go," I said, looking down, feeling angry tears creep up into my eyes.

"You like Edward." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, Jade, I think I do. And it's killing me," I told her; looking up and letting her see my tears.

"Aw, Bells. You know what? Here are the keys to the Mini. Go in there, open up the sunroof, and listen to your iPod. It will make you feel better. Just lie down in the backseat on a towel. Trust me, it will be a lot more comfortable than lying wet on leather," Adelle said.

"Or you can even lie in the Jetta. I don't care. We could come with you, too," Jade added.

"No guys. I think I'll lie down in the Mini. It has a bigger sunroof," I told them, smiling.

"Okay, I parked in parking spot number 33, just leave here and go left. It's next to the stupid yellow Hummer H3. I don't know why anybody drives those; they are like 2 miles to a gallon or something idiotic like that. Just keep your cell phone on you, I'll be checking in once in a while, okay?" Adelle asked.

"Okay, sure. I'll see you guys in a bit," I told them, and then I walked away. I had to be alone.

I walked to where Adelle parked and saw the H3. There was a guy about my age who got out of the H3. He must have been sitting in there for the past while for some reason. He looked almost perfect, not as good-looking as Edward, but still very beautiful. He had black straight hair that flopped into his purple eyes in a kind of emo-ish way. Wait, _purple_? Who has purple eyes? Isn't that like impossible? He was also horribly pale, even paler than I am, and I've lived in Forks all my life. Even paler than the Cullens, who were pretty pale, but Edward is a bit darker than I am. I swear I must be part albino anyway. Least, Jade and Adelle love joking about that. He was also tall and somewhat boyish.

He looked straight at me, and I swear I saw him sniff the air before giving me a wide smile that made my stomach flip, only not in the way that Edward's smile made my stomach flip. This smile made my stomach flip from fear. This smile looked almost sadistic, plotting. In all of this fear, I hadn't even noticed that clouds had covered the sun. It wasn't going to rain, the sky was just white. But it almost looked like the boy's skin was sparkling.

Another guy got out of the car after the black-haired one. He was tall and had blond hair that was cut short but still looked messy. He was actually better looking than his son. He was probably 10 years older than the boy next to him. He looked too young to be his father, but the boy looked at him like a parental figure. Next to the older blond man came a beautiful woman with almost black eyes. She had long wavy hair and looked like a movie star. I felt a pang of jealousy that anyone could look like her. She saw where the younger boy was looking and gave him a look after sniffing the air as well. It looked as if she was telling him to back off. He smiled at her reassuringly before smiling at me once more and walking away behind the two older people. (AN, pictures of the new people in my profile. I also changed Bella's picture.)

I had no clue about what had just happened. Who was that boy? Why had I never seen him before? Why were his eyes purple? He was also deathly pale, like he'd never seen sun in his life, or like there was no blood in his system. He must have also been sitting in that car since we got there, when it was sunny. Is he scared of the sun or something? Maybe he's allergic to light. Ugh, I just want to lie down. First Edward going off with Jessica and Lauren—even though I told him to—and now I have some pale guy with purple eyes looking at me like I'm food or something. (AN, oh the irony…)

I finally willed myself to get into the car and I opened up the sunroof and welcomed the air that flowed through the car. I pulled out my iPod and lay on a towel that I had draped over the back seat and set my iPod onto shuffle and let the music consume all of my thoughts.

The songs that were played were some of my favorites. I heard Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Let Go by Frou Frou, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, Dark Blue and the Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin, a ton of Fall Out Boy and Goo Goo Dolls, and Black Roses Red by Alana Grace. I pretty much fell asleep in that back seat and had a bunch of jumbled dreams. They were all a mix of things, I dreamt about that boy's bizarre stares, Edward with Jessica and Lauren, and the Cullens. None of the stuff I dreamt made sense to me, but that's why they are dreams. None of them ever make sense. Whenever I would get used to a dream, I would find myself starting a new one.

I was brought out of my slumber by someone tapping on the window. My eyes popped open, dazed, and I looked around trying to remember where I was and who was tapping. The person tapped again and I looked over and saw a familiar angel-like face with bronze-colored hair and beautiful green eyes. _Edward_.

"Let me in," he told me, his voice muffled by the glass between us.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, I need to talk to you, please. Unlock the door." The next thing I knew his eyes were burning into mine, my thoughts slowly slipping away. What was he talking about? Oh right, unlock the door. I reached over and hit the unlock button on the door (AN, not sure if Minis have those…I drive a Jetta, like Jade, and it had a button on the door that has a lock/unlock thing on it…so yeah.) and moved over as Edward fluidly slid into the back seat.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Why are you in here, and not out in the park with Jade and Adelle like you said you would be?" Edward asked me.

"Because I felt like lying down. I was a bit tired. That and I needed some time to think," I replied, looking out the window at the twilight sky. The sun was setting, causing a beautiful array of oranges, reds, yellows, and purples.

"Do you have any idea about how worried I was when I came back and couldn't find you? I thought that weirdo with the purple eyes had taken you or something. He gave me the creeps," Edward said, touching my hand.

"You saw him too?" I was amazed, wasn't he with Jessica and Lauren? Why would he be worried about me?

"Yeah. He looked straight at Alice and sniffed the air or something, like he was catching her scent. It was almost like a dog. I was worried he had taken you when I saw his car gone and you weren't with your friends. Jade and Adelle had said they sent you out to lie down in Adelle's car, around the time that guy showed up," Edward explained.

"He's not here anymore?" I looked out the window and saw that the yellow Hummer was gone.

"No, he left, a while ago. I saw him get nearer to Alice but Jasper glared at him and he left. I didn't like him one bit. I'm just happy you are safe. Next time, just stay with Adelle and Jade, or just find me or Alice, okay?" Edward said.

"But why did it matter?" I asked, wondering why he cared so much.

"Because I care about you, Bella. I would be worried about Alice or Rosalie too. You are not exempt from my life, Bella, not even close."

So he cared about me like a brother would care about a sister. I should have expected as much, I knew that someone who looked like I do could never hold an attraction over someone who looked like Edward. I just wish I could know what it feels like to have someone like Edward like me. But that will never happen, I just know it.

"Thanks, Edward. I'm sorry I worried you," I told him, looking out the window to avoid his eyes boring into mine. I didn't want him to see me crying. I didn't even know why I _was_ crying! It was ludicrous to think that he had this much of an effect on me. But it was pointless; he will probably end up with Jessica or Lauren, or some other gorgeous girl from school. But I needed to stop dwelling on that, I couldn't let that ruin my night. He was here now, wasn't he? And now I was wasting time spacing out like this. He probably thought I was crazy.

"No problem." There goes that crooked smile again. Why is my heart fluttering? Heart, stop fluttering!

"Do you want to head back out?" I asked him, noticing that it was still twilight, but gradually getting darker.

"No, let's stay here for a while. I want to just relax. I mean, Jessica and Lauren are nice, but they have to have every single second filled with chatter. I like being here with you. Your presence is peaceful and, well, I like it, I guess," he told me, smiling again.

"Thanks, I like being here with you too," I told him, hardly able to contain the smile that broke across my face.

"There's that smile I love. Come on, let's talk," Edward said, motioning for me to sit facing him. I turned my body so I was sitting with my back resting against the door, holding my knees into my chest.

"About what?" I asked him. He was sitting similarly to the way I was sitting, back against the door, feet on the seat.

"Tell me a memory, a really good memory. Or something that happened in school. Or an embarrassing thing that happened, or something. I don't care, I'm not picky."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. First kiss, tripping in front of an audience, scoring the winning goal. I'm pretty sure I gave you a broad enough spectrum of ideas."

"Well, I've never had a first kiss, so that topic is out the window. I trip on a daily basis, they all sort of stick together in my mind. Oh, I know. I have one," I told him.

"Do tell, we'll deal with your lack of kissing, as well, later."

"Well, Jade does gymnastics at Klahhane Gymnastics over in Port Angeles. She's actually really good. Well, every Friday night the gym holds open gym—which is where people can come and play around on the equipment—and Jade made me and Adelle come one night. Jade is an assistant coach for open gym, birthday parties, and summer camp during the off-season, and she's dating one of the younger guy coaches. She wanted me and Adelle to meet her boyfriend whom she had recently started dating, so we went to open gym to meet him. He lives out in Port Angeles, so he doesn't go to our high school.

"So we all drove to the gym and Adelle and I had to pay while Jade went and got Cameron, who was subbing a kinder gym class because the normal coach was absent. He was actually really nice, we told her we approved. By the time we were fully introduced it was time for open gym to start. The only problem was that I am a klutz and why Jade trusted me in a gym is beyond my comprehension. So I figured that maybe if I just stay on the trampolines—away from any stationary objects that I could fall into—then I would be safe. I had already ruled out balance beams, I would probably somehow straddle the beam. And I knew I couldn't do the bars even if my life depended on it. Floor actually required skill, and I couldn't do the vault, because I knew I would trip mid-run as I raced towards a stationary object that probably didn't want me jumping on it anyway. So trampoline it was.

"It was okay for a while. Once in a while I would do a funny jump and I would land oddly or fall on my butt, but nothing bad. Well, Cameron had been watching, and he thought that maybe I should try and do a trick. He told me to do a seat drop and we would go from there. I looked at him like he had just grown three heads; I had _no_ clue to what a seat drop was. So, he moved onto the trampoline next to me, and demonstrated a seat drop. It was really easy, just jump, and then land on your butt with your legs out and straight. He told me to keep my hands by my sides when I landed, so I could cushion the fall.

"My seat drops were really good, so he told me he was going to show me how to do swivel hips, which was a seat drop, and then you turn in the air and land in a seat drop in the opposite direction from where you started. He showed me some drills to get me prepared, and I actually did them well, so I decided to attempt the trick. I got it on my third try, so he told me to try linking more swivel hips on. I decided I would go for five, and I managed to make five. But when he told me to try for ten, on my jump in, I went too far back, so I landed on my back into my first seat drop, which caused me to ricochet back and I smacked my knee into my lip. I managed to both make an ass out of myself and give myself a fat lip. It was terrible. So after that Jade told me to either just jump up and down, or help her watch the kids. To this day Cameron still mocks me about that," I told him, finishing my very long story, and blushing as well.

Edward gave me a look that lasted a millisecond before he burst out laughing.

"Shut up! It's not that funny!" I told him as he fell onto the seat and continued to laugh. I tried not to notice that his laugh sounded like that of an angel.

"Yes. It. Is," he said between laughs.

"Gosh, I'm never telling you anything ever again!"

"No, really, I'm fine. I'll stop laughing." And the laughing did stop. For a minute. He started laughing again soon afterwards.

"I officially hate you, Edward Cullen," I told him.

"No you don't," he told me.

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't. And about that first kiss, you really haven't kissed anyone?" He asked.

"Yes, I really haven't kissed anyone. Why are you so surprised?"

"I haven't been kissed yet either." Wait, _what_? Edward Cullen, beautiful, god-like Edward Cullen, hasn't been kissed yet? How does that work out?

"You haven't?" I asked, surprised.

"Nope."

"Wow."

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"Because, I'm so average looking, and then look at you!" I told him.

"Bella, you don't see yourself clearly. You really aren't average."

Yeah, right. He's being nice. "Thanks, I guess…"

"How about we make a deal, if neither one of us gets kissed by the end of the year, then we kiss each other," he told me, smiling that crooked smile, _again_.

"You don't have to," I replied, wanting to kiss him, but knowing that if he kissed me, I'd want it to be a real kiss, not a pity kiss.

"But I'd much prefer to kiss you willingly than kiss someone in some dare or spin the bottle game."

"Oh, um, okay, I guess. Deal," I told him, holding out my hand for us to shake on it.

"Okay, deal," he replied, shaking my hand. "Now it's your turn to tell a story."

"Okay. I'll tell you about the one where Emmett managed to get me drunk," he said.

"Yes, do tell. I want to hear this!"

"Okay, well, we were living in Denali, a small town in Alaska, and it was a Saturday night during the summer, so it wasn't even dark or that cold. We, my siblings and I, were sitting around the house and we were trying to think of stuff to do. Emmett wanted to go play baseball, but Alice reminded him it was too late for baseball. Rosalie just wanted to go watch TV, Alice wanted to go through her closet before buying more clothes online, Jasper wanted to read, and I wanted to play the piano. The only problem was Mom wanted us to do more "bonding" which is hilarious, because we are together everyday, and she still wanted us to bond more.

"So we were watching Degrassi: The Next Generation on TV, and Emmett got up to get us root beer. We had those bottles that look like the beer bottles in the fridge, so it was an easy mistake. Of course it was Emmett, so it could have been on purpose.

"I was the only one who got beer. Everyone else got root beer, which I don't know how Emmett managed that. He's convinced us it was an accident.

"I knew it tasted funny, but I just thought that maybe Esme had picked up Sarsaparilla instead of regular root beer. Not realizing that I was drinking beer, I downed the entire thing, and Emmett brought me another 'root beer', which was really just more beer. After my second beer I started acting funny. Like I got really loud, laughed at every word that Jasper said, and started telling Alice that she was cute, because short people are cute.

"Alice was the one to realize that Emmett had gotten me drunk. She started yelling at him as I continued to act like an idiot. Emmett thought it was hilarious, and continued to egg me on. He somehow convinced me it would be fun to go streaking, which I did. He had me go outside and streak around Denali. Our parents were out, but our family friends, Tanya and her family, saw me, and called up Carlisle and Esme, and told them to come back. Emmett was grounded, and my Mom had to take care of my awful hangover the next day. It would have been funnier if Emmett hadn't filmed the whole thing."

"Oh my gosh, I have to see that tape!" I exclaimed.

"No way, that tape is going with me to the grave!" Edward replied.

"Wait, how old were you?" I asked.

"Fifteen."

"Wow, Edward. That's pretty pathetic," I told him.

"Yeah, I know, thanks, Bella."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I added, touching his shoulder.

"Thanks." He smiled that crooked smile at me.

"No problem," I replied, smiling back.

"Hey, do you want to head back in? It's almost 7, and I think they'll be feeding us soon." I looked out the window, it was still light outside, but it didn't get dark until close to 9 in the summer.

"Sure, let's go back. Did Jessica and Lauren leave?" I asked.

"Yeah, they said they were going to go watch movies at Lauren's house. They invited me, but I had to decline. I don't know how much longer I could have handled being with them."

"Oh, okay. Come on, I think I can smell hotdogs."

"All the way from here?"

"Yep, come on!" I told him, taking his hand and pulling him out of the car.

"Alright, alright. You must be hungry, you're literally dragging me," he replied as we walked up towards the entrance. I just hoped Jessica and Lauren hadn't change their minds and decided to stay.


	4. Kennedy

Chapter 4: Kennedy

We entered through the entrance and it was still twilight. The purple, orange, and red colors reflected off of his perfect skin and made him almost glow. He looked over at me and smiled, interrupting my ogling. I gave a timid smile back.

"Bella! Edward! Where have you guys been?" Alice asked, running over from a large quilt that Adelle had thought to bring when we left. Everyone was watching Mulan on the big projector that was playing over by the main pool. The quilt had been laid on the grass by the edge of the lazy river.

"Sorry, Edward and I got caught up in the car and we talked for a while. What's up?" I asked. My stomach was growling from not having eaten since lunch. I could smell the food, and it smelled really good. Not as good as Esme's barbeque, but still really good.

"Here, Bella, Edward, I already grabbed your guys' food. Jade told me that you like hot dogs with tons of ketchup and mustard, so enjoy! And I got the usual for you, Edward: cheeseburger with tomatoes and barbeque sauce. You're welcome," Alice replied, smiling brilliantly.

"Thanks Alice, my stomach was growling so loudly I thought it would explode," I told her.

"I figured, but nothing is compared to Edward when he's hungry. He's like a wild animal or something. It's absolutely insane," Alice giggled.

"That's not true! It's not that bad. I may get cranky, but I don't act like a wild animal," Edward defended.

"Bro, I swear, your eyes get like 10 shades darker when you are hungry," Emmett told him.

"Shove it." Edward glared at Emmett and the words "if looks could kill" ran through my mind. It was almost like Emmett's face would melt off from that glare.

"Dude, it's true. Edward goes nuts when he hasn't had food. Here's a perfect example. He's about to kill us. Alice, we should give him the food," Jasper added.

"You're right. Here, Edward. Eat." Alice handed him the food and Edward wolfed it down, it was insane. I saw three burgers disappear within less than 5 minutes. I never thought someone so thin could eat that much food. It was jaw dropping.

"Wow Edward, I never thought you could eat that much in that short of a time," Adelle told him.

"Same, that's insane!" Jade added.

"You should see him on Thanksgiving, it's even worse. He, Emmett, and Jasper eat an entire turkey by themselves. It's pretty insane," Rosalie told us.

"Wow." My jaw dropped, an _entire_ turkey? Is that even possible?

"Excuse me, can I join you guys?" A velvety voice asked. I turned around to see the freaky guy with the purple eyes who was looking at me earlier. Edward tensed up and angled himself closer to me as if to protect me from this man.

"No." Edward glared up at him, his voice full of venom.

"Edward, that's mean. Yes, you can join us, I suppose," I told him.

"Thanks. The name's Kennedy Trenton. My family and I just moved here from New Mexico," he told us. Funny, I thought he had left. The Hummer was gone. Maybe his parents left.

"Wow, for someone who lived in the south, you sure are pale!" Emmett snickered.

"Emmett, shut up!" Rosalie told him.

"I just spend a lot of time indoors during the day," he replied with an innocent smile. He wasn't _that_ bad looking. I mean, he was nothing compared to Edward, but those violet eyes were pretty.

"I'm Alice. Would you like anything to eat? We grabbed some spare chips." Alice waved her hand towards the bag of chips and the open container of salsa sitting on the blanket.

"No thank you, I'm not hungry," he replied with a smile. He seemed to be enjoying some private joke.

"I'm Bella, it's nice to meet you," I told him, extending my hand to shake his.

"Hi Bella, a nickname for Isabella maybe?" Kennedy asked.

"Yeah, it's short for Isabella. But almost no one calls me that," I replied, remembering how I only get called Isabella when I'm in trouble. _Isabella Marie Swan_. I shuddered.

"I like Isabella, it's exotic. Of course Bella fits you too. You know, 'Bella' is Italian for beautiful. I think the name doesn't do you justice enough." He smiled a suave smile and I was amazed by how ultra-white his teeth were, but somehow, they seemed to look sharp. They looked almost like knives on the edges, not sharp, but somehow they were enough to slice your finger open. I felt chills go up my spine and Edward tightened his grip on me, as if to protect me from Kennedy.

"I think I saw you while I was resting in the car earlier, you have a yellow Hummer, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's my car. My parents had to get back though, so they left me here and said to get home before 3 AM," Kennedy replied.

"Wow, 3? How are you going to get home if they took your car?" Alice asked.

"I'll run. It's no big deal," Kennedy replied, smiling wistfully.

"How far is the run?" I asked.

"Oh, only a little over a mile," he replied.

"Oh, okay. Well I was going to offer you a ride home, I mean, we have an extra seat in the car," Adelle said. Edward glared at her and then it sounded like he almost _growled_. What was up with him?

"A ride would be nice. Of course, I would love to sit next to _you_, Bella. You are much, much prettier than the girls back home." Kennedy gave me a dashing smile and Edward pulled me closer and angled himself to the side as if to convey the fact that I am off limits, even though I wasn't.

"I just remembered, I think I left something in the car, Edward, walk with me," I told him, getting up and glaring at him to do the same.

"Fine, let's go," he replied, following me out.

"We'll be right back." I grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the front so we could talk in private. I was going to kill that boy.

I found a nice secluded area in the picnic area near the park where we could talk. There were a bunch of benches and picnic tables and shaded areas. I sat down on the grass and beckoned for Edward to sit next to me. He slowly sat down in front of me and I pulled my legs into my chest. He looked almost angry.

"Bella, what is it?" He asked with annoyance.

"What the hell was that? Kennedy is new here, and you are treating him like he is reservoir for the Ebola Virus!" I told him.

"You don't see the way he looks at you. For some reason, I have this fear that he's going to take you away from here, like he's going to take you and not give you back. I don't like it one bit. It scares me. He has this evil glint in his eye and I swear he's up to no good. Please, Bella, please stay away from him," he pleaded, taking my hands into his and looking into my eyes.

"Edward, you are worrying _way_ too much! You have to understand, Kennedy just needs to make some friends, and you are acting almost territorial. I know you said you care about me, but this is just insane. I think Kennedy might like me, and now you are bashing him. Is this a case of not liking him, or are you just angry because you want to protect me?"

"I do not like him, Bella. Please, grasp that. There is something wrong with him. Please, just listen to me, I'm begging you."

"Here, I'll make you a deal. If Kennedy asks me out tonight, I'll say no. Okay? I'll wait until I can judge him for myself," I bargained.

"Fine. I'm sorry, Bella. You have to understand, I'm only doing this to protect you. Kennedy freaks me out. You've only known him for five minutes. But there is just something odd with him. When we leave, we are going to ask Alice, okay?"

"You are such a tyrant!" I stood up to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.

"Please, Bella, I'm begging you. Look into my eyes, you can trust me. You know I would never want to hurt you, ever. I guess I am trying to protect you, but for good reason. Don't tell me you don't think Kennedy freaks you out, too." He released the full power of his eyes on me and I saw not one ounce of falsehood in those beautiful green eyes. He was telling the truth. I felt terrible for being mad at him earlier and I vowed to myself that I wouldn't shut him out for wanting to protect me.

"I know. I'm sorry, Edward. Truce?" I asked, holding out my hand for him to shake.

"Truce." He took my hand and pulled me into a hug. It felt so perfect. It felt like we were made for each other, like my body fit perfectly next to his. And then there was that electricity that I felt coursing through my veins as I felt him touch me. But I knew I was crazy. He couldn't feel that way for me—not that I liked him—but it wasn't logical. Guys like Edward Cullen didn't fall for girls like Bella Swan.

I felt him breathe in the scent of my hair and pull me closer, and I was wondering what was going on, not that I minded. But I don't like him that way, right? I don't like Edward Cullen as more than a friend, I can't like Edward Cullen as more than that. He would never feel the same way, and it would be unreturned love.

My hearth shuddered and flipped when I felt him tighten his grip on my waist, and I was wondering why he hadn't let go yet. I decided I would hold on for five more seconds before I would disengage myself and not let him think that I was falling for him. If he thought that, then he would feel awkward, and I would never be able to talk to him like I did in the car. But I didn't know what to do about _this_. What were Edward and I? What was this that we were doing? I knew that I should have let go a long time ago, but I couldn't. It's like my arms weren't connected to my body, and they just wanted to hold on.

Finally my brain clicked back into place and we let go of each other. I stepped back awkwardly, looking at the ground.

"You know, we should get back," I told him, looking at anything but him.

"Um, yeah, I think we should." I could tell he was avoiding my eyes too, the way he looked behind me at the trees.

I started walking away before he moved, eager to get away from there. There was something about tonight that had changed things. There was this new intensity between us that hadn't been there before, and I was pretty sure it hadn't been planned. He was probably angry with me for feeling like that. He probably knew I liked him, and now he's going to have to ignore me for the rest of the night because he's afraid I'll try to put more moves on him. I'm so screwed.

He quickly caught up, of course, and we walked back towards the group side-by-side. I could tell he was hoping that Kennedy had mysteriously left again, but he was proven wrong when I saw the same straight black hair from where we were standing. I noticed Edward had stopped walking, and I figured it was because of Kennedy. Although Edward and ceased movement, I continued walking towards the group. One freaky guy wasn't going to keep me from my friends. I suddenly noticed an arm around my waist and I had just opened my mouth to scream when a hand brushed my cheek and covered my mouth. I resisted the urge to bite the hand and wait for the person to explain himself, or until Edward beat the guy up. I'm pretty sure Edward would care enough to make sure I wasn't kidnapped.

My captor quickly spun my around and it took me a total of half a second of staring into the person's brilliant green eyes to realize it was Edward who had pulled me to him. Did I mention he hadn't been wearing a shirt at all the entire night, either?

"What?" I hissed.

"Please, just give me a minute. I'll be fine, I promise." He glanced over at Kennedy, who was looking straight at us now, like he could hear us.

"Fine. You have to chill out, Edward. You'll get gray hairs," I told him with a smile, which he returned.

"You know I'm only acting like this because I care. I'll be fine once we leave here." He pulled me into his chest and I gave up being mad at him. How could I be mad at him? He obviously cared enough to freak about some guy acting funny. I had to give him some credit for caring.

"It's okay. You want to see if everyone would like to leave anyway? I'm getting pretty tired, and it's getting late." I told him.

"Sounds like a good idea. Come on." He took my hand and we walked back up to the group. Well, maybe he didn't think I was a creep who likes him after-all, maybe he figures it's fine for friends to hug.

We finally made it back to the group and Kennedy was watching us walk back while everyone else was watching the movie finish. Was I going crazy, or did Kennedy's eyes get darker as he watched me approach?

"Hey, Alice, we are getting pretty tired, do you want to head back?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am too. How about you guys?" Alice asked everyone, she got back varying answers of "yeah", "sure", and a "no way, Jose" from Emmett being a loser.

"Is that ride still open?" Kennedy asked.

"Yeah, sure, I suppose," Jade replied. "I think there's another seat in the Jetta."

"Yeah, there is," I replied.

"Cool, I'll take the Jetta then. May I sit next to you, Bella?" Kennedy asked.

"Um, yeah, sure." I stole a glance at Edward, whose expression had hardened, before he turned to pick up the quilt.

We quickly put on clothes and packed up, eager to get back. I had a hot shower calling my name that I had already Okayed with Alice. She had offered me Edward's shower, as a joke, but our faces turned bright red, and she quickly took it back, telling me I could use hers.

Edward, Alice, Jade, Kennedy, and I all piled into the Jetta. Jasper offered to take the Mini with Adelle, Emmett, and Rosalie; leaving an angry Edward who sat on one side of me while Kennedy sat on the other. I couldn't help but notice how cold Kennedy's skin was through his swim trunks. I wondered how the hell that kid could be so freaking cold. Edward kept his arm around me the entire time, too tense to let go. I attributed it to the fact that he didn't like Kennedy.

Since we didn't know where Kennedy lived, he told us to just drop him on the edge of the turn-off, because his house was farther into the woods, and it would be easier if we just left him there. Jade obliged and we stopped on the edge of the woods by a small dirt path, barely big enough for one car to go through. The trees that covered the woods near his home seemed ancient and sinister, like something from a horror story.

He quickly gave me a brief farewell before jumping out of the car, and running quickly—almost too quickly—into the dense woods.

We arrived at the Cullen's house not much later, after dropping Jade and Adelle at their respective homes because their parents had wanted them back home. Apparently, there had been two disappearances in the larger surrounding cities and one in La Push. There was also one _very_ large wolf that had been spotted on the side of the freeway. My mom was a bit worried, but my dad figured it was okay as long as we didn't go running in the woods, which we wouldn't. Both Jade and Adelle's parents were prone to worrying.

Alice led me to her room where she showed me how to work the shower knobs and she turned on some music—Fall Out Boy's Take This To Your Grave, to be exact—and left me to take my shower. I gratefully let the hot water and the calming smell of her vanilla soap overtake me and I leaned into the beautiful blue-tiled wall and closed my eyes, enjoying the rain-like feel that the showerhead gave. Behind my eyelids was Kennedy, with his strange purple eyes and freaky sideways glances. I pushed that memory away and thought of Edward and how he had wanted to protect me.

Before I knew it, there was a quiet tapping on the door.

"DON'T COME IN!" I shouted, afraid it was Edward or Emmett or something.

"Don't worry, Bella, it's just me, I have clothes for you. I'll just drop them by the door, okay?" Alice asked.

"Sure." I stared out the glass door to Alice's shower towards the beautiful bathroom that was larger than my room. She had a makeup counter with a huge mirror that stretched across past the sink. There was also a huge window with long dark blue curtains that matched her eyes that had silver tassels that held them into place, although they were currently closed. The lights on the walls were white frosted covered lights that jutted out from the mirror.

I watched as Alice cracked the door open and laid a pair of red fleece pants and a white tank top out for me. I also saw a pair of white underwear that she had gratefully lain out for me.

I called out a brief "thank you" before she closed the door and I turned off the water. I quickly grabbed one of her fluffy dark blue towels and wrapped it around myself before I got out of the still-warm shower and into the cold room.

After I got dressed in the dark red Abercrombie and Fitch folded-bottom fleece pants and the super-soft white racer-back top that Alice had lain out for me, I pulled my hair into long French braid and walked into Alice's room. She pulled out a pair of black footy socks for me.

"Trust me, the floor gets cold," she told me after I gave her a look of confusion.

I took them from her and silently put them on before there was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, we're decent," Alice replied, fixing her light blue tank top over her white pants, similar to mine.

Edward came in wearing a pair of blue plaid fleece pajama pants and a grey t-shirt. He looked amazing and I got embarrassed when my heart started beating faster in my chest.

"Emmett thinks we should watch 300, but Rosalie thinks Devil Wears Prada or Happy Feet. What do you think?" He asked.

"Happy Feet, first. Then Devil Wears Prada," I replied, walking towards him.

"Okay. Sounds good, anyway. They both agreed on Step Up, that's okay, too?" He asked.

"Sounds good." I walked to join his side as we headed downstairs to watch the movie.

We all sat down in front of the big plasma screen. Emmett and Rose took up half of the couch with Alice and Jasper on the other half. They had grabbed blankets for us and Edward and I were on the ground sharing a dark gray one.

Alice had brought popcorn and we all ate in silence as the movies went. Around two in the morning we had just finished up Devil Wears Prada when we started getting tired. Alice and I walked up to her room while Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward walked up to their respective rooms. Alice had a ton of pillows lain out for me on the couch and I quietly got on them. Rosalie joined us briefly to say goodnight before leaving again, and then went to bed.

I couldn't get comfortable, though. I didn't want to wake Alice up, so I got up and wandered to the other rooms. As I passed the third room I heard quiet music down the hall. It sounded like piano, Clair de Lune, I believe. I quietly tapped on the door, not sure of whom it would be that would answer the door.

To my surprise—and happiness—it was Edward. His hair was slightly disheveled after having lain down and I was afraid I had woken him.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" I asked, worried.

"No, I was getting ready to go to bed. Why aren't you out like everyone else?" He asked back.

"I couldn't sleep. Mind if I join you?" I looked away, embarrassed.

"Of course not, go ahead. You can sleep on the bed, if you like. It's definitely big enough, or you can sleep on the couch if you like," he replied, pointing to the more comfortable-looking couch on the side of his room facing the wall of CD's next to the massive window that was his west wall across from a _very_ soft-looking bed.

"The bed, if it's okay with you," I replied, eyeing the large queen-sized bed with the dark chocolate brown silk comforter.

"Okay," he said as I walked over to the bed and rested on top of the sheets.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked.

"No, go ahead," I replied as he pulled us both under the blankets. It was so soft, and felt so nice and he lay next to me, pulling me closer. I couldn't believe I was lying in bed next to Edward Cullen. At that point, I didn't care about what would happen the next day; I just moved closer to him and drifted into unconsciousness.

AN, sorry for the delay. I was really stressed with school…and I couldn't seem to get ideas onto paper. But next chapter is going to be Edward's point of view, which I don't normally do, but I'm going to have to start switching point of views, or else nothing will make sense.


	5. The Memory

AN, whenever I switch POVs, if it's not Bella, I will put up the name of the person who's narrating. Just because I will probably stick with Bella for now, and I'd prefer to not have to type the name of each person narrating the chapter each time.

Chapter 5: The Memory

EDWARD CULLEN

The dull light of another cloudy day woke me up. I blinked my eyes slowly, glancing towards the Olympic Mountain Range in front of my eyes as I let them adjust to another day. I did have to give Esme credit for finding this house with such an amazing view of the mountains. Having an entire wall of glass for the back of the house was a great idea, as well.

I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was not alone, though. I felt a warm, soft body in my arms and I looked down to find Bella lying next to me. I couldn't believe I had forgotten that beautiful Bella Swan had asked to stay the night with me last night. This was probably the greatest night of my life, including the night that Emmett got grounded for accidentally pelting Carlisle with brownie batter, thinking it was Jasper.

Unconsciously, I tightened my grip on Bella, pulling her closer before softly kissing her head (for reasons that are unknown to me). She shifted softly in my arms before opening her beautiful brown eyes. I was almost lost in her gaze for a minute before she spoke, the sound of an angel's harp.

"Morning," she told me, turning to the side and stretching.

"Hi sleepy head," I replied, chuckling.

"Your bed is more comfortable than Alice's couch," she yawned drowsily.

"Thanks, I think so too." I watched her continue to lie there, amazed by how beautiful she was. Her large brown eyes stayed open, but they were looking out the window in amazement. She was perfect, an absolute angel. But I knew there was no way she would like me. She probably liked coffee shop guys, guys who would sit in some Starbucks for hours sipping espresso and typing song lyrics for their acoustic guitar into an Apple laptop. I may play the piano, but I am no coffee shop boy. But I think I had the subject of my next composition: the angel lying in my arms.

My train of thought was interrupted by the door swinging open and Alice running in.

"Hey, Edward, hey, Bella," she said as she ran up to the bed and jumped on.

"Hi Alice, sorry about leaving, I couldn't get comfortable," Bella replied, looking down, embarrassed.

"Oh don't worry, Edward's bed was probably more comfortable, and I don't think he minded." I glared at Alice. I think she knows I like Bella. Wait, I like Bella? Well, I mean, I think she's beautiful. Actually, beautiful is an understatement. She looks like an angel. I remember when I first saw her, I heard her talking to Esme, and I thought I had gone insane because no one whom I had ever met looked like Bella. I'll be lucky if she even considers me as a love. Even though, she did promise me a kiss if we don't kiss anyone this year. My heart fluttered at the though. Ugh, I think I'm going head over heals for her.

"WHOA! Look, it's Edward and Bella!" Emmett exclained as he ran into the room.

"Emmett," I warned him, unwillingly letting go of Bella and standing up.

Too late. He was off. "CARLISLE, ESME, EDWARD'S A STUD, HE SLEPT WITH BELLA!" He yelled as he ran out of them room and down the stairs. I raced off after him with Bella and Alice in tow yelling at him as they went.

We finally caught up with him once he got to the bottom of the stairs. Both Bella and I were blushing five shades darker and Alice was glaring daggers at Emmett.

"Edward…?" Esme asked with a questioning tone.

"I don't even want to know," Carlisle responded. "But do explain. I would love to hear Emmett's reasoning, even if it is Emmett's mind." I snickered at that response and Emmett glowered. Bella was fixing the bottom of her shirt and looking at the wood floor, avoiding anyone's eyes.

"Well, here I was last night, minding my own business," Emmett started, "and I heard Edward's music playing, and I couldn't sleep. So I went to go beat on him, and I saw Bella knock on his door, and ask if she could stay with him. So of course, this morning, when Alice came in, I had to see for myself. And there they were, Edward and Bella, lying next to each other in Edward's bed. Edward even had his arms around Bella! I think he should be grounded." Emmett was going to die. He spied on us! And now he's embarrassing Bella!

"Edward, your story?" Esme asked.

"I was listening to my music, _quietly_ may I add," I explained, glaring at Emmett, "and Bella knocked on my door and told me she couldn't sleep and asked if she could come in. I offered her a spot on the bed, since it is a huge bed. I got in next to her, and she said it was okay, and we went to sleep. We didn't do anything, I promise."

"Is this true?" Carlisle asked Bella.

"Yes," she replied, still looking down. I wanted to murder Emmett, my poor Bella. Wait not _my_. Bella is not mine. Why do I keep thinking that? But I do wish she were mine. It doesn't help that Kennedy keeps coming near her. For some reason he freaks me out, like he's going to steal Bella away and never return her, only this would be a more permanent absence. I don't know why. It just worries me, the way he looks at her. It's like she's nothing more than food to him. And his purple eyes. They are almost a strange violet color, only more red. It's like blue contacts over red eyes. It freaks me out.

"Well, Emmett, what do you think?" Carlisle's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Wait, he was asking _Emmett_? Does he want me to die a painful death?

"I think he should be grounded. No going out, no listening to music, no driving his cars, no watching TV, and especially no seeing Bella." He turned to smirk at me. I almost growled.

"Sounds like a good idea. Emmett, you're grounded," Carlisle said. HA! Emmett just got grounded!

"But. But. But, Carlisle! Dad, why are you grounding me? He was the one sharing a bed with Bella!" Emmett protested.

"But he and Bella weren't doing anything. And you ratted them out. Alice knows well enough that they weren't doing anything wrong. You, on the other hand, are a different story. You get your own personal grounding that you originally assigned for Edward. Meaning, that tonight, when we have a barbeque and people come here, you can't attend. We'll have someone bringing your food upstairs. Understood?" Esme explained.

"A barbeque? Since when!" Emmett demanded.

"Since yesterday, when Bella's parents came by, and we invited them. A couple of people from La Push are coming down too, along with a bunch of people from the hospital and around Forks," Carlisle replied.

"Please don't say Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory…" Bella begged.

"No, I don't think so. We offered, but they said they couldn't. They had previous plans but said they wished they could make it. Angela Weber said she could go, though. And Jacob Black, one of Charlie's friend's sons. His father is Billy Black. I'm sure you'll all get along great," Esme explained.

"What about the new kid, Kennedy?" I asked, hesitant. I didn't like him being near Bella.

"No, we weren't able to reach his family. But I believe we will have more than enough people," Carlisle added.

"I suppose. Are we free to go now?" I asked, tempted to get away with Bella. I wanted us to hang out today.

"Breakfast first, guys. I made waffles. Enjoy!" Esme told us, pulling out a large stack of fresh waffles. My stomach growled in anticipation.

We all sat down to the breakfast table and Jasper, Emmett, and I all fought for the waffles while Esme started getting everything ready for the dinner that night. Bella, Alice, and I offered to make brownies later, which I decided we would do after Bella and I went for a walk or something. I liked spending time with her. I liked spending the night with her _more_, but I wasn't sure how often that would happen. She might also get annoyed at my advances. Maybe I should just pursue Jessica Stanley or Lauren Mallory, it's obvious they like me. I've always been able to read people easily, and it's just obvious, I guess. Bella's a bit harder, though. I never know what she's going to do.

But I couldn't help but notice the protests my heart made when I thought about going out with someone _besides_ Bella. No girl—not Jessica, and not Lauren—was like Bella. Every girl whom I had met was the same. They all had the same shallow way of looking at things and they didn't care about anything I had to say. All they cared about was looks.

I continued eating breakfast while Alice and Bella chatted animatedly about what type of brownies they would make and then Alice mused about what clothes she would force Bella into while Bella cringed. I figured Alice was always going to go overboard with dressing Bella up. It was just a given—something Alice always did.

Getting antsy with waiting for Bella and Alice to end their conversation so I could borrow some time with Bella, I started kicking my feet under the table while humming River Flows In You by Yiruma (AN, it's a really good song. It's piano, but very beautiful. You can just search in on youtube and there are like 50 million responses), an amazing piano composition, that was at this point my inspiration for Bella's Lullaby—what I would name my next song. I figured I would finish it within the next couple of weeks, and then play it for Bella. I hoped she would love it.

While I was kicking my legs, I accidentally hit Bella's smooth leg and I quickly moved my leg to the floor. Ignoring the jolt of energy I felt when my leg touched hers. It was almost like being burned without knowing it. I noticed her face go red too and I wondered if she felt that as well.

Finally she and Alice finished their conversation and Alice got up and ran off to her room to pull out clothes that she would force Bella into.

"I'm definitely dreading tonight now. Alice is going clothes crazy," Bella told me, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I replied. "Do you want to hang out today? We could go for a hike, and then I could get you back in time for Alice to dress you up and for us to make brownies." I watched as her eyes sparked when I mentioned our hanging out. It made my heart flutter in my chest.

"Do you think we could get lost along the way? I'd love to get out of 'dress up Bella', if you don't mind." She smiled and I remembered why I loved her smile so much. Her smile brightened an entire room and made me want to always have her smiling.

"But we wouldn't want to hurt Alice's feelings, Bella," I reminded her.

"I know, I know. Ugh, I just hate being a three-dimensional paper doll for Alice." She grimaced, wrinkling her nose as a gesture of distaste at the memory.

"Come on, let's get going." I took her hand and we ran out of the house.

I decided I would take her through the land behind my house. When we were picking out this house, I decided to go searching, and I found this area and fell in love with the land. The mountains looked as if they had been painted on the sky and there were many waterfalls. I knew Bella would love it. I saw her looking out the window this morning. She probably felt the same way I did: amazed.

I couldn't help but notice that she hadn't let go of my hand yet, and I reveled in the feel of her small hand in mine.

Although I was happy for the moment, I remembered yesterday. I remembered that sense that popped up in the back of my head when I saw Kennedy. It made the hair on the back of my neck rise and I knew he was up to no good. There was something about him that I just didn't like. And it didn't help that Bella must have no sense of self-preservation, because she just went up to the guy like he wasn't a monster or something. I didn't understand what had happened last night. And then the jealousy that I felt when he looked at her like _that_. I couldn't describe it. Then after that I felt the fear and worry that if she rejected me for him. I couldn't let that happen. It was like, when I was with her, everything was okay.

But what is it that I'm feeling? It can't be love; I've only known her for a day. Maybe it's just my wanting to protect her. Yeah. I just want to protect her. It's not love. I can't love her. I barely know her. But these feelings that are coursing through me are not just simple friendship, and I am lying to myself if I am saying that they are. These feelings are stronger. They are the reason why I can't stay away from her and I feel the need to protect her. But it can't be love. Right? I can't be in love with Isabella Swan. I have never loved anyone but family before, why start now? But I know there's something there. I don't know how long I will be able to deny it without knowing it to be true. I guess I'll just have to wait and let time see. Maybe I should talk to Jasper, he'll know. He's good with emotions.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked, her angelic voice bringing me out of my stupor.

"We are going for a walk around the area around my house. It's very beautiful and remote once you leave the main neighborhood. I figured you'd like to see it," I told her.

"It is very beautiful," Bella gasped. We were entering a large valley where a waterfall fell into a lake in front of us and reflected the sun around us like diamonds. Behind it was a large snowy mountain range. I always loved going out here. It made me remember that even after everything that has happened to this world something must endure on. This land out here was immortal, even though we may age and grow older, this land will stay.

"I discovered it while we were picking houses, and this view won us over. I went wandering, and discovered this area, and made everyone come out and see it. Needless to say, they loved it too. Even Rosalie, although though she complained that I was interrupting the movie that she was watching on her iPod video." I smiled at the memory. We had just decided to move here from Alaska, and Alice and Rosalie were looking forward to all of the shopping options.

She smiled at my response and I continued to lead her farther down the valley. It was amazingly beautiful and even though I had seen it before, it still took my breath away.

"I can't believe this area is behind your house," she whispered.

"I know. It's amazing, isn't it?" I smiled at her.

"Very."

"We don't have a whole ton of time here, though. We have to be getting back soon because of the brownies." I frowned at the thought. I liked having her here with me, with no one else to bother us.

"How much longer?" She asked, sounding sad.

"Probably an hour or so. Do you want to keep walking, or would you like to go by the water over there?"

"Let's go sit down by the water. We can talk. Is that water safe to drink? It looks good." She looked over at the water longingly.

"Yeah. One time I drank some. It was perfectly fine. But I'd like for us to sit down and talk. I don't know how often we'll get to do that once school starts," I replied, dreading the thought. _School_. I would have to deal with people like Lauren and Jessica, people who annoyed me and pulled me away from Bella.

"We should do this at least a few times a week. Set out a time when we can be alone. I'll stay the night if I have to. Carlisle and Esme obviously didn't mind my sleeping in your room. Why didn't they anyway?" She asked.

"I think it's because they trust me and they just want me to be happy. I would like that idea though, for us to have time together during the school year to hang out," I replied, pulling my shoes off and rolling my jeans up so I could put my legs into the warm water. It was _very_ cold and I took my legs out automatically.

"I could have told you that was a bad idea!" Bella told me as she broke into laughter.

"I know. I just wasn't sure. Of course, we could find out how cold it really is—" I trailed off, picking her up and holding her over the cold limpid water.

"Ah, Edward! It's too cold! Please!" Bella begged, burying into my arms and pressing herself into my chest. My heart beat faster as I felt her so warm and close to my body. All I wanted was to pull her to me and kiss her and never let her go, and that thought scared me. I couldn't—no I wouldn't—fall in love with her. It would only lead to heartbreak, probably on my part.

"Calm down, Bella, I won't drop you," I told her, pulling her closer to me. I couldn't help but noticed how she snuggled closer into my arms.

I softly sat down with her in my lap and we watched the edge of the water. I never wanted this to end. I wanted to be with her for forever. But it was wrong. She didn't deserve me, she deserved someone whose life wasn't nearly as weird. I couldn't tell her certain things, like the way my parents had died.

My heart hurt just thinking about it. I was so young—too young for it to be more than a nightmare, but too old for it to blend into my other nightmares. I was living in Chicago with my parents and there had been a series of murders that had been going on while I was young. The police thought they were homicides, nothing connected, and they figured they would go away in time. But one night I was with my parents and we were walking back to our large townhouse after we had just eaten dinner.

Suddenly I heard something behind us. It sounded like whispers, only they were too fast and quiet for me to pick up, but I knew something was wrong. I pulled on my dad's arm and told him something was wrong. My mother pulled me behind her back and protected me from the person that would appear from the shadows. I never did get a good look at him, but I knew he must not have been much older than I am now. He had black eyes and he approached us slowly. My dad yelled for him to get back, but the figure just laughed and kept advancing. My mother turned quickly towards me and told me "Edward, listen to me. Your father and I love you, no matter what happens. Please, go, run. Go to the hospital or the police station and get help, but if it's too late I want you to go to the hospital. There is a young doctor, Doctor Carlisle. He's cared for you since you were young, and he'll take you in with his wife, Esme. Edward, I love, be brave, for us." I never got a chance to reply, he quickly lunged and she kissed my head before telling me to run. I quickly obliged and never looked back, but I knew they were gone. There was nothing I could have done.

I went to the police office, and the police went to investigate, but they never found anything. I had always hoped my parents were still alive, but I knew they were gone.

After that, I ran to the hospital and told Dr. Carlisle what had happened. He said he would gladly take me in, and that Esme would take care of me.

Almost twelve years later, it has still proved to be true. Carlisle and Esme have been the greatest substitute parents I could have ever asked for. I've never regretted their taking me in.

But that was something I couldn't tell Bella. It hurt too much to even think about it, let alone tell someone. The only other people I had ever told, besides Carlisle and Esme, were Alice and Jasper. They have always been caring of me, and I knew I could trust them. But another part of me reminded me that if I really trusted Bella, then I could tell her too—not today, but maybe eventually.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked me.

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Edward, you're crying. Something's wrong." She brushed her hand over my cheek, wiping the tears off. I hadn't even noticed they had started falling, but now I felt ashamed. I couldn't tell her, not yet.

"Nothing, just remembering something," I replied.

"Are you okay?" She asked again.

"Yeah. It's nothing, don't worry." I managed to pull my voice together so that it wouldn't break. But she could tell it wasn't nothing, although she didn't press it. Instead, she pulled me into her arms and held onto me; as if she were keeping me together in fear that I would fall apart. But that gesture seemed to make things better. I never wanted her to let go.


	6. Legends

Disclaimer: I'm am taking part of this text directly out of Twilight, so I obviously don't own it. I wish. I'd love to know whether or not Bella becomes a vampire…

Chapter 6: Legends

EDWARD CULLEN

I don't know how long we sat there, with our arms around each other. We eventually let go and I let her lean on me while she sat next to me. I reveled in the warmth of her next to me. I noticed the sun start to get higher in the sky, and I knew it was getting late. I checked my cell phone to realize that it was time to head back. I knew Bella didn't want to go because she didn't want Alice dressing her up.

"Bella, it's time to go," I told her, brushing her hair away from here eyes. She turned to look up at me, her eyes shining with something I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Ugh. I suppose you are right. Do we have to?" She protested, getting up and brushing the grass off of herself.

"Yes, unless you want Alice to come looking for us and force us inside." I laughed at the thought. The idea of Alice, who is shorter than Bella, pulling us both towards the house was hilarious.

"That would not be a good idea. Alice would have a field day." Bella shuddered as the wind blew against her. I knew I needed to get her back soon; she was going to freeze if I didn't. _I _was going to freeze, too, but I worried more about Bella.

"Come on, let's get you inside. It's getting colder; I think we should get you a sweatshirt for tonight. By the way, do you know any of these people?" I asked, in hopes that none of them were like Jessica and Lauren.

"Well, Angela is the sweetest girl you will ever meet and Jacob is one of my longest friends. We've known each other since we were babies he's probably one of my best friends." I found it hard to believe that someone was sweeter than Bella. Bella probably the nicest girl I had ever met. Well, when I wasn't acting horribly overprotective.

"That sounds cool. Do they go to our school?" I asked. I could use another guy friend outside of Emmett and Jasper.

"Well, Angela does—she's in our grade—and Jacob goes to the Quileute school in La Push. He's going into 9th grade." Wait, what's a Quileute?

"He goes to the _what_ school?" I asked.

"La Push is the Quileute reservation. It's a small Native American tribe. His father is one of the elders. Jacob told me that his dad's technically the chief or something. Pretty funny, huh?" She explained.

"Yeah. That is. Hey, we should really get going," I told her, taking her hand as we turned to walk back towards the house, which was just a dot in the distance.

"I officially love your backyard, Edward," she said as she looked around.

"Yeah, I love it too." I replied, looking at her.

"Do you think you can stay the night again? I mean, it is summer. It's just…I don't know…I like having you here. Especially because school is starting soon and I think we will both be overwhelmed with classes. You know, we have registration tomorrow, too. Maybe we'll get some classes together." I hoped we would. I also hoped—just by chance—that Kennedy won't be going to Forks High with us.

"I'll have to check, but I hope I can. Mind if I borrow your bed again?" She asked with a smile.

"No problem. Borrow all you want. I'll sleep on the couch if you wish, or we can share again…if you don't mind." I hoped she wouldn't. Just the idea of sharing a bed with her made my heart flutter.

"I don't mind," she replied, looking down while she blushed. My heart started beating rapidly in my chest and I couldn't help but look at her. She must think I'm a freak or something.

We were silent for the rest of the walk back and I saw Alice eagerly jumping up and down in front of the house, waiting for us to get back.

In an attempt to get Alice more annoying, I quickly pulled Bella into my arms and I ran with her towards the house. Alice started shouting once we passed her as I ran through the back door that led to the yard. Bella was trying to stop from giggling while Alice ran angrily behind us, as graceful as a gazelle.

I raced up the stairs towards my room and barely made it there and locked the door before Alice slammed into it behind me. She uttered an oath and proceeded to bang on the door while I stood far from it with Bella still in my arms.

"EDWARD ANTHONY MASON CULLEN," Alice shouted. "Let me in! I won't dress Bella until we finish the brownies! Please? Come on, Bella. I know Edward hasn't even put you down yet. Don't you love me? Please come out." Crap. I hadn't put her down yet. I was still holding her tight in my arms.

Reluctantly, I put her down and walked over to the door and let Alice in. She was still fuming. She quickly slapped my arm and skipped up to Bella, taking her hand and walking downstairs with me in tow.

Alice had already pulled out most of the ingredients and was completely ready to get started. She pulled out the recipe for the chocolate-caramel brownies that Esme had in one of her Cooking Light magazines and told us to wash our hands before we did anything. She proceeded to mix the caramel and milk in a bowl while Bella and I worked with the cake mix.

Everything was going fine until Bella messed up her egg white, so she went to get more eggs. On her way over to the bowl where Alice and I were mixing the brownies, Bella tripped (AN, of course…) and the eggs flew at us. I managed to save one, but all the rest were broken over all three of us. Bella had egg yolk all over her beautiful brown hair and there was a broken egg on top of my head. We couldn't help but burst out laughing when we looked at Alice and saw that she had egg shards in her black fairy spikes (what she liked to call them).

We quickly finished the brownies and put them in the oven and waited for them to finish so we could add the caramel.

Esme came in and saw us covered in egg and had a fit. She told us to go upstairs and change, and she would finish the brownies.

We all apologized before we headed upstairs. Alice had to use her shower to clean up, but I offered Bella mine, even though we had three other spare bedrooms. I already knew Alice was planning on setting up another room for Bella, since she was quickly turning into family.

Alice brought in Bella's clothes, which were a pair of blue jeans, a white three-quarter-sleeve sweatshirt, and a red tank top to go under it, and a pair of white Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes. I figured she'd look beautiful.

She put them in the bathroom before leaving, and once Bella was in the shower, she came back in to try and push me into the bathroom with Bella. I couldn't go in—not that I probably didn't want to—but I didn't want to embarrass Bella, which is what would have happened if I had let Alice push me in. And then Bella wouldn't have wanted to stay the night.

After only five minutes, Bella finished in the shower and got dressed before she cracked open the door to let the steam out. I asked if it was safe before I got into view of the mirror. My jaw dropped when I saw her. She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was down and wet and thick over her back and she was in the process of pulling into a ponytail. The white sweatshirt looked striking against the red tank top that was sticking out under the sweatshirt over the jeans (AN, I'll put the link in my profile if I get enough requests. My profile is getting pretty cluttered). I walked up to her and couldn't help but stare.

"You look nice," I told her.

"Thanks. It is all Alice's doing." She blushed.

"Alice didn't make you look like that. You don't see yourself clearly." _SHUT UP, EDWARD!_ I couldn't be off telling her she looked like an angel, it would ruin everything. It would ruin the friendship that we have. I couldn't do this. I would have to wait until I knew whether or not she felt the same way. Not to mention I'll have to wait until I've known her for longer than two days. Maybe a week from now…no, that's still not long enough.

"Thanks," she replied. "Come on, we should probably go bother Alice. It's getting later, and people should be coming soon.

"Oh, you're right! It's five o'clock." I took her hand effortlessly and we walked to Alice's door where we heard music blaring through the walls. It was some random Teddy Geiger song. I could hear her soprano voice weaving through the harmonies and I softly knocked on the door, quiet enough to not seem rude, and loud enough for her to hear me.

"Yes?" Alice shouted over the music before she turned it down to where it was background music.

"Alice, can we come in?" Bella asked, turning to lean against the wall after letting go of my hand. My heart pounded heavily in my chest; I missed her hand, soft and warm in mine. It was irrational. There was no reason to why I should feel this strongly for her in such a short amount of time, especially when she probably didn't feel the same way.

"Of course, I want to see how you look anyway," Alice replied before she opened the door for us.

She surveyed Bella before she squealed and pulled her into a hug.

"Um, thank you?" Bella said with a question in her beautiful voice.

"You look so good! I love the combination of red and white. It looks amazing." She looked at me, then, and pursed her lips. "Edward, change, please. You haven't showered either! You just wiped the egg out!"

"I was going to," I protested. "I lost track of time, and besides, Bella was using my shower." It was a bad excuse, but I really did lose track of time.

"You suck at lying. We have like 5 other showers in this house, Edward. Go shower and change. Don't wear red, or you'll match Bella. You should wear those dark wash jeans and the Scotland shirt," Alice told me.

"She tells you what to wear?" Bella asked with a giggle.

"Yes, it's irritating, especially when I can dress myself," I replied.

"Edward, go shower and change, now! Bella and I can talk and hang out. Here Bella, let me do your make-up. Bye, Edward." Alice pulled Bella towards the bathroom and turned the music back up. It was playing Fall Out Boy at that point.

"Save me!" Bella begged, grabbing my arm.

"Sorry Bella, I should shower," I replied, not wanting to leave her.

"Come on, Bella." Alice pulled her back towards the bathroom and I left the room before I could no longer ignore my impulses to take Bella back to my room with me.

I gratefully jumped in the hot shower and got rid of all traces of the egg that had been thrown into my hair before I got out and pulled out the clothes I was going to wear. I chose a long-sleeved black shirt with the Scottish flag on it and "Scotland" written down the left sleeve and a pair of dark wash jeans. I chose a simple brown belt and put on a pair of simple black and white Adidas Superstars. Only Alice would be overdressed.

I quickly brushed my hair and then left my room in search for Alice and Bella. It wasn't too hard to find them because I figured Alice would still be torturing Bella. I knocked on the door again and I heard voices and then Bella opened the door for me.

My jaw dropped when I saw her. Her hair had been taken out of the ponytail and pulled half up, half down with small pieces curled around her beautiful face. Alice had put a tiny bit of mascara on her along with some light shimmery eye shadow. She looked so amazing, it took my breath away. Bella looked down and blushed and I felt the need to pull her to me and never let go, but I quickly squashed that feeling. I couldn't be feeling that.

The doorbell rang and I decided it was time to go downstairs and see whom my mom had invited. I heard the recognizable voices of Jade and Adelle who were talking to a girl with a soft voice, whom they called "Angela", one of the girls we must go to school with. I heard another voice with theirs, a guy's voice. They called him "Mike". He must be that guy who likes Bella. I remember someone had mentioned him while we were at the water park yesterday. Wait, it was yesterday? It feels like it's been much longer than a day.

I took a deep breath and started to descend down the stairs with Alice and Bella behind me. Jasper was already downstairs with Emmett and Rosalie and they were talking to everyone else. I heard Bella squeal behind me and run down and hug the young-looking boy with the russet-colored skin.

"Jacob!" She exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you. Practically a century. I haven't had a chance to drive up to La Push. How have you been?"

"Same old, same old. I've missed you too. I see you've befriended the Cullens. There's another new kid in town, have you gotten to know him?" He asked, my jaw tightened. Kennedy. But Jacob didn't seem too happy, had he seen Kennedy too, and gotten that same idea? That Kennedy was bad?

"Oh, Kennedy. Not really. I've talked to him once; he was at the water park the same day we went. I had thought to invite you, but I figured it would be too hard for you to get to Forks before we left. I'm so sorry," Bella apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Listen, I need to talk to you later. There's some tribe stuff you need to know, okay?" Jacob told her. Wait; did he know something about Kennedy? I'd have to ask him. Now might be a good time.

"Um, hi, I'm Edward Cullen, you must be Jacob Black. My mom said you were coming; it's nice to meet you. Can I talk to you?" I asked, wanting to know about Kennedy.

"Um, yeah, sure," he replied, walking away with me.

"Here, let's go up to my room. I have something to ask you." I led him upstairs towards my room and when we entered I turned the light on and motioned for him to sit by me on the floor.

"Yeah?" Jacob asked.

"You know about Kennedy and his family?" I asked.

"Yes. Why?" He asked.

"I've met him. He freaks me out. I need to know what you know," I told him.

"Why?" He looked confused, and embarrassed.

"He wants Bella," I almost growled. "I have a feeling he's going to hurt her."

"Okay. Well, this is all tribal stuff, so I wouldn't put too much stock in what I have to say. But do you believe in scary stories?" He asked.

"I guess. I've had enough in my lifetime." My mind returned to the night my parents were murdered.

(AN, Twilight portion starts here. I changed some of the comments, cause they are guys.) "Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from—the Quileutes, I mean?" He asked.

"No, sorry," I replied.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of the claiming to date back to the Flood—supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show how he barely believed the legends himself. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves—or that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.

"Then there are the stories about the _cold ones_." His voice lost some of its volume, dimming to a bit above a whisper.

"The cold ones?" I asked, confused.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. (AN, since the Cullens aren't vampires, ignore my changing of the story so it will flow) He was the one who made sure they stayed off our land." He rolled his eyes.

"Your great-grandfather?" I asked.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one."

I stared at him, wondering where he was going with this.

"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But my great-grandfather and the other elders were able to keep the cold ones away from our land. We said we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces if they stayed away from our territory, which included the city. They were still dangerous, though."

"If they were still dangerous, then why did they let them stay?" I asked, confused.

"Because they said they fed from the jails, from the people who were lower than low. It wasn't until later that they found out that the cold ones had lied. But after that, there was nothing they could do."

"So how does that fit in with Kennedy and his family? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No." He paused. "They are the _same_ ones."

"And what are they?" I asked. "What _are_ the cold ones?"

He smiled darkly.

"Blood drinkers," he replied, his voice chilling. "Your people call them vampires." My heart dropped. Was Kennedy a vampire? Was that even possible?

It was worse than any other possibility I had ever come up with. If it was true, then Bella and I were dealing with something much worse than some random creepy guy. We were dealing with the supernatural, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I wouldn't believe too much of it, but we should still be cautious. I need to tell Bella, although she probably won't believe me," Jacob told me.

"No, it actually fits. There was something wrong with Kennedy, I knew it. But you're right, Bella won't believe it. She'll think we're crazy." I frowned. How could I protect her when she probably wouldn't believe me? Hell, I could barely believe myself.

But there was something about his theory. It made sense. I couldn't figure out, but there was something in my mind that was telling me that I had to believe Jacob. There must be some memory buried in my mind that must register with these recent findings, although I couldn't figure it out just yet.

"But I don't know how Bella will react." Jacob sighed.

"I know what you mean. It might make her _want_ to get to know her better. She won't want to protect herself for the sake of her well-being. She'll want to protect everyone else, but not herself. Because she's Bella, and everyone else _but_ her is always more important in her mind. If only I could let her see that she _is_ important, and she needs to take care of herself and not get near anything dangerous." I couldn't help but worry; what if Bella didn't listen? What if she got hurt, and there was nothing I could do?

"You really care a lot about her, don't you?" He asked.

"I don't know. I've been asking myself that same question. Why? Do you like her?" I asked, fearing that he would say yes, because I could tell they were close.

"As a sister. I have known her my entire life, and I feel the need to protect her. But I can tell that you two are forming a strong bond early on (AN, guys, I know Jacob is supposed to hate Edward, but in this story, they are just childhood friends and Jacob loves Bella like a sister, because they are practically family)."

"Hey, guys! Are you in there?" A voice called into the room. I automatically recognized it as Bella's voice, which was irrational, since I had only known her for almost two days. I shouldn't be able to recognize Bella's voice so quickly.

"Yeah, Bella. It's just Jacob and I. He was telling me some stories," I told her. I heard the handle turn before she entered, stumbling into the room. For a minute I was worried she was drunk—even though I figured she would never do that—until Jacob started laughing.

"Nice trip, Bella," he said with a chuckle.

"Shut up, Jake. I know I'm a klutz, don't rub it in." Bella stuck her tongue out at him like a five-year-old.

"For a minute, I thought you were drunk," I added.

"Hey!" She exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Bells. Your klutziness is endearing," Jacob replied.

"If you two keep doing that, I'm going back downstairs." She turned to walk away. I jogged up to her and pulled her back.

"Bella, don't be so sensitive. You know I love you," Jacob said.

"I didn't mean any offense," I added.

"Fine. I wanted to let you guys know dinner is ready, so if you don't want to go the rest of the night without food—since we know how Emmett and Jasper are around food—then I suggest you come downstairs. By the way, speaking of heavy eaters, Jacob, where's Sam? I figured he would have come," Bella said.

"He's not feeling well. You haven't seen him since he grew, either. The kid is getting huge! He's almost seven feet tall now!" Jacob exclaimed. Wow, seven feet?

"Wow. He's nearly three feet taller than I am. How pathetic is that?" Bella asked.

"Pretty sad, Bells." I liked that nickname that Jacob was calling her. It reminded me of her laugh, which sounded as musical as wind chimes whenever I heard it.

"Don't remind me. Now come on, I'm hungry!" She exclaimed, pulling us towards the door and down the stairs. I couldn't help but replay the story that Jacob had told me in my head and compare the details that I had noted while being near Kennedy. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered. Could Kennedy and his family really be vampires? And if they are, what evil is about to be unleashed on Forks?


	7. Dream

Chapter 7: Dream

EDWARD CULLEN

We got downstairs fairly soon, although Emmett and Jasper had already gotten to the food. Emmett was getting ready to grab more food, but Esme smacked him with her spoon and told him to go sit down and eat what he has first.

Esme had outdone herself, too. She had made barbequed chicken, ribs, Boca burgers, and salmon. She had done the corn on the grill, as well. And everything smelled amazing.

Jacob and I took our seats outside next to Bella by one of the smaller streams out on the grass. Although I knew Kennedy wasn't at the barbeque with us, I still worried about what would happen when we saw him again. Of course, I was probably jumping to conclusions, and everything I was thinking was probably horribly wrong and insane. But I couldn't help but wonder what was really going on.

Bella and Jacob had started up a conversation as I was thinking and I tried unsuccessfully to figure out what they were talking about. I heard something about a puppy and a chair, but that's all I could catch. It wasn't until I heard the word 'tribe' that I knew Jacob was about to warn Bella.

"What is it, Jake?" Bella asked.

"Do you remember any of the Quileute legends I told you?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course, you told me each of them at least fifty times," she replied.

"Do you remember the one about the cold ones?" He looked towards the moon, still lost in thought.

"Yeah, all of the ones you told me. I remember the one you told me about the cold woman and the spirit warriors, and then the one about the cold ones coming to La Push a really long time ago. What about them?" She asked.

"Haven't you noticed any similarities between the stories I have told you and our new _visitors_?" He sounded hopeful.

"Should I have?" She asked.

"I'd hope so," he replied.

"Well, Jacob, I don't think Edward and his family would like you calling them vampires," Bella told him with a serious look on her face before she burst into a fit of giggles (AN, oh the irony…).

"Bella, be serious. Have you noticed anything odd about Kennedy?" He asked.

"Oh, not you too! It must be some sort of 'guy vision' that no one else—but guys—gets. I mean, sure, I guess there is something funny about the kid, like how he sniffs the air when you come closer and stuff, but what did this have to do with the cold ones—oh."

"Yes, Bella. Now please, please, please listen to me. The tribe thinks we have seen these people before, and I _want_ you to stay away. Haven't you noticed there have people have gone missing? And this time we have no one to keep the cold ones off our land and yours. We need you to stay safe," Jacob told her.

"You guys worry _way_ too much. I'll be fine," she replied.

"Bella, I'm with Jacob. I think you should be cautious. Or at least consider it," I added.

"Don't worry about me." She rolled her eyes at us.

"You never worry about yourself. You always worry about everyone else, Bella. For once, be _selfish_," Jacob told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because we care about you and we don't want to worry that _if_ this is all true and we aren't crazy that you will get yourself hurt—or worse," I replied. She looked into my eyes for a while, before turning to look at Jacob. Whatever she had seen must have convinced her.

"Fine. I promise to be a bit more careful," she told us.

"Thank you," I told her, hoping that she meant it.

We continued to eat in silence for the most part. Bella finished up earlier than Jacob and I did, so she lay down on the grass and looked up towards the sky that was not—for once—blanketed by clouds. I couldn't help but steal a few glances at her, with her hair fanned out around her as she rested on the cool grass. Once I finished, I lay down next to her and pulled her closer to me. Jacob pulled his legs into his chest and looked up towards the sky, as well.

I couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing that I was: what was going to happen to us? I knew Bella probably wasn't worried, but there was something in Jacob's theory that stuck to my mind, only I couldn't pinpoint it. Never before had I dealt with something quite like this. Not even with my parent's death, or could that be the vital part I am missing? Was there something about my parents' death that I'm missing? That seemed like the only event in my life that would stick in my head and constantly nag me. Or maybe I was spending too much time harping on this idea. It was the last two weeks of summer, and I had to enjoy it while I had it.

I knew Bella was staying the night and that thought was comforting. But this was the last night she would be able to stay in my house. Sleeping in my bed. Tomorrow she would have to return to her own bed. And I'm pretty sure her parents wouldn't like my staying there.

But there had to be some other reason to why I wanted to be with her so much. Maybe it was because I thought that my presence was protecting her from whatever was haunting my thoughts, whether or not it was Kennedy. My only fear was that I could only protect Bella for so long.

"Guys, time for desert!" Esme called, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pulled Bella up with me and we all got up to go get our deserts, which were brownies a la mode.

Alice and Jasper came over to join along with Jade, Adelle, Mike, and Angela. We all sat in a huge circle and ate our brownies. I had to admit; Alice, Bella, and I did a very good job with these brownies.

"Hey, Bella, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon after registration?" Mike asked Bella, faking nonchalance.

"Going to Seattle with Edward, Jasper, and I," Alice answered for her.

"Alice, I need to go home eventually," Bella told her.

"I already cleared it with your parents. They think it's a good idea. They thought you hadn't gotten out enough this summer," Alice replied.

"Well, how about the day after?" Mike asked again. I growled, this was getting irritating. I didn't like this kid. I could tell by the way he looked at her that he was thinking vile thoughts. It was disgusting. Bella deserved much better than _Mike_.

"Um, well, Mike, I don't really think of you that way. Sorry." I almost smiled if it weren't for Mike being next to me.

"Oh, okay, that's cool. How about you, Jade?" Mike asked.

"Um, I have a boyfriend, idiot. His name's Cameron, remember? Just because he doesn't live in Forks doesn't mean he doesn't exist," Jade spat.

"Oh, right, gym boy," Mike replied.

"Whatever, Mike." Jade rolled her eyes and turned away.

We continued to talk amongst ourselves for a little while longer until everyone slowly started to leave.

Soon it was only Jacob, Bella, and I, so we all went back up to my room. Bella sat on the floor, with her legs pulled into her chest while Jacob and I sat facing her.

Jacob was really worried because Billy had gotten a call from Joshua Uley, Sam Uley's father, saying that Sam had gone missing. Jacob and Bella were really worried that Sam had been taken by whoever had been pulling people away from their homes. I knew something was up; I just couldn't piece it all together. Leah Clearwater, Sam's girlfriend was worried sick, so she, Sam's father, Billy Black, Charlie, Leah's Father, and a bunch of other people from the reservation were going to go looking for Sam. Jacob was going to be staying at his house with his sisters, who were visiting, while Billy was out with the other men and Leah, looking for Sam.

Bella was comforting Jacob while we sat up in my room, waiting for Jacob's father to finish talking to Charlie so they could leave. I offered Jacob a place in our house—it wasn't like we didn't have the room—but he said he wanted to stay on the reservation, because it was supposedly safer and he figured he should stay with his sisters.

I knew there was something we were missing. There was some reason why Sam had gone missing, and some reason why the Quileutes were all freaked out about the new 'visitors' that had come to Forks. I just couldn't figure out what it was that we weren't piecing together. It was just so odd that Sam had gone missing shortly after Kennedy's family had arrived in Forks. Especially since the reservation was so safe. What were we overlooking?

It was something huge, whatever _it_ was. It was something important, something that would explain why Sam tied to closely into this situation.

More than anything, I was worried. Worried about Bella. This disappearance had shown me that I need to keep her safe and out of harm's way. But my dilemma was that I didn't know how to protect her from a problem this formidable.

"Edward, hey, earth to Edward," a voice called, pulling me out of my worries.

"Yes?" I replied, not even noticing whom had called my attention.

"Jacob is leaving. Why were you spacing out?" Bella asked me.

"No reason, just thinking. Bye, Jacob, I hope they find Sam," I told him.

"Thanks, I hope so too. Bye Bells," Jacob told her, pulling her into a hug and kissing her head like an older brother.

"Hey, call up some time, we should hang out," I told him.

"Yeah, sounds good. See you around, Edward," Jacob replied leaving the room.

Once he was gone Bella turned to me. "I'm worried now. Sam wouldn't go missing for no reason, he's strong," she told me.

"I think something's up. We're missing something. And until this all gets solved, I don't want you wandering the woods or going off on your own. Please, for me?" I asked, pulling her small hands into mine and looking into her warm brown eyes.

"Yes, I promise. It's not like I wandered the woods by myself so much before," she added. I was grateful to know she wouldn't be putting herself in harm's way. Bella was too sweet and innocent to be hurt.

But these feelings that coursed through me when I looked at her and worried about her were foreign to me. It was almost torturous; I had not idea what was going on. I had never felt like this about anyone before. It was ludicrous to believe that I could feel any attraction towards Bella within two days. Maybe these recent attacks were taking a toll on my mind. Maybe I should just sleep it off.

Right as I thought that, Bella yawned next to me.

"Ready to go to bed?" I asked her.

"Yeah, let me go wash my face and change. I'll be in Alice's room," she told me before walking out.

I went over to my closet and pulled out a pair of black flannel pajama pants and a white t-shirt, since Bella would be sleeping with me, and I wasn't sure if she would feel weird if I weren't wearing a shirt. Following Bella's lead, I went to wash my face and brush my teeth, thinking about my newest dilemma the entire time. I didn't know what I was going to do now.

Turning my music on so it was just quiet background noise, I pulled out The Iliad and leaned into the back of my bed and relaxed.

I had gotten lost in the story of ancient Greece when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called out.

Bella walked timidly into the room and I smiled when I saw her. Only she could pull off looking beautiful in pajamas. She had on a pair of blue plaid boxer shorts with a pair of white leggings on under them and a dark blue t-shirt.

She moved to sit on the bed next to me and rested her head on my shoulder.

"_The Iliad_?" She asked.

"Yes, one of my favorites. I'd considered _A Lesson Before Dying_, but I've already read it four times. So it was either this or Jane Eyre," I replied, smiling at her.

"_Jane Eyre_ is a good story. I like the ending, when Jane and Edward Rochester finally get married. It's brilliant," she replied, smiling at her memory of reading the story.

"Are you about ready to go to bed?" I asked. "I'm getting pretty tired."

"Yes, I suppose so. If we have to get up early to get to registration, we'll want to get to bed around now. Do we seriously have to go to Seattle?" She replied.

"Alice really wants to take you shopping. You shouldn't ruin her fun." I grinned, knowing Alice went insane when she was put in a big city with numerous credit cards.

"Ugh, you should want to protect me from the pain!" She whined.

"I will protect you, don't forget I'm coming too. Alice actually called the hotel today. She managed to get two rooms at The W hotel. It's your choice, you can stay with either Alice or me, we won't mind," I told her, hoping that she'll say she wants to stay with me. I didn't understand why I was feeling that, either. It was almost pathetic. I needed to talk to Jasper soon.

"I'll stay with you, if you don't mind," she told me, looking down, blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed. Alice will be happy to have the alone time with Jasper, anyway. Besides, I think she got double beds because that was all they had on such short notice, if that's okay. You won't feel forced to share a bed," I added, in hopes of making her feel less embarrassed.

"We'll see," she replied with a smile.

"Come on, let's get to bed," I told her, pulling the covers down and getting into the bed after having turned off my stereo. My heart beat faster in my chest as she got into the bed and pulled the covers around her.

I once again pulled her closer to me and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. I knew my feelings were becoming completely irrational, and I needed to keep them in check or otherwise I might lose Bella because there was probably no way she liked me.

Feeling her move herself closer into my arms gave me a bit of hope, and my heart pounded as she rested her head against my chest.

My eyes slowly began to droop and I felt the world around me being whisked away.

The next thing I knew, my bedroom had disappeared, and I was in a large forest far from Forks with Bella.

This forest was completely different from any other forest I had been in. The trees were huge and ancient. It looked as if the forest had been there since the beginning of time.

The sun was behind the clouds and the light around us seemed to filter a yellowish-green hue. The woods felt bone chilling to me and I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and the goose bumps on my arms.

There was something wrong here. Why were Bella and I in these woods?

I looked down at Bella, and she looked almost scared. I swallowed loudly and pulled in into my arms, afraid of what might happen to us in these woods.

It wasn't until I looked closer at her that I realized that tears were running down her cheeks. What was wrong? Why was Bella crying?

I suddenly heard footsteps and I almost jumped out of my skin when a dark silhouette appeared between the large trees in the shadows.

"Edward? Bella?" The voice called. Wait, I recognized that voice.

"Jacob? What are you doing out here?" I asked.

"We have to get out of here, it's coming," he replied, looking behind him towards the growing light.

Suddenly the sun came out and illuminated everything around us like it was on fire.

But something was wrong. Usually when the sun shone on things, it made them look less scary, but the sun made everything sinister.

The light in the distance grew closer and I could see that it was a man who was coming nearer.

"Who is it?" I called. All I heard in return was a hiss.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it began to hurt my eyes. I pulled up my hand to shield them and moved Bella behind me as to protect her from whomever was coming to us.

Slowly, the shining figure immerged from the woods.

It took me a minute for my eyes to adjust to realize that it was Kennedy who was walking towards us.

But there was something wrong; Kennedy's skin was glittering like diamonds were embedded in his skin. And there was something else, something I couldn't pinpoint.

It wasn't until he stepped into a small pool of shade that I realized what it was: his eyes. His eyes were a dark, sinister red.

I moved my stance to protect Bella when I noted Jacob shuddering next to me. Suddenly, he burst into a large russet-colored wolf. A large growl ripped from his throat.

"Jacob!" I yelled, afraid for us now that Jacob had turned into a large wolf before our eyes.

I turned around and pulled Bella to me and held her in my arms, in hopes that maybe the wolf would scare Kennedy away.

Of course, it was probably hopeless; what hope did a large wolf have in beating a vampire?

"Isabella," Kennedy called. Bella's eyes looked up at him, transfixed.

"Bella, come here." He motioned for her to come near.

"No, Bella, listen to me, we have to run! Please, ignore him!" I begged.

"Come here, young one. Come here, Bella," Kennedy told her.

I gripped Bella tighter but she moved from my grip. Kennedy pulled my arms from her in a blindingly fast motion and I cowered from his ice-cold skin. It almost burned against mine.

With Bella in his possession, he moved back towards the edge of the woods, away from the Jacob wolf and me.

I watched with great horror as Kennedy swept Bella's hair from her neck and bent down as to kiss her.

Jacob growled when Kennedy brushed his lips across her neck before opening his mouth readying himself to bite down.

In a flash, the Jacob wolf had bounded towards Kennedy and jumped.

I shouted, not in fear for Kennedy, but in fear of Bella being harmed.

Right as Jacob collided with Kennedy, a loud clap of thunder hit and my eyes popped open, removing the scene from my eyes.

I was no longer in the forest; I was back in my room, with Bella safely in my arms.

I sighed in contentment, glad to have Bella in my arms. I kissed her soft hair and pulled her closer before I closed my eyes again in hopes of having a dream-free rest of the night.

But I couldn't help but remember my dream, and how real it had felt. Brushing it aside, I let sleep take me again, waiting for morning to return.


	8. Registration

Chapter 8: Registration

BELLA SWAN

It was still dark when my eyes opened groggily, and I noticed I had arms wrapped around me. I didn't remember falling asleep this close to Edward, usually I was able to control my feelings better than that. Maybe he was doing it subconsciously, like in a dream.

I tried to go to sleep afterwards, but I just wasn't tired. Getting out of bed, I went over to Edward's couch and pulled out my iPod so I could wait out the time until Edward woke up.

I watched Edward sleep as I sat on his couch waiting for day to come. It felt weird, sitting there awake while he was asleep. But I liked the idea of being here because he wanted me, not because I felt like it. I turned down my music quiet enough so that I could hear his quiet breathing, but loud enough so that Lifehouse could be heard over the quiet of the room.

"Bella." My name broke the silence. My head snapped up and I looked around the room, unsure of where it came from. Could the Cullens house be haunted, or something?

"Bella." My eyes turned towards Edward, lying sleeping on the bed. My heart flipped at the thought that he was dreaming of me, whispering my name in his beautiful, velvety voice.

I got up to go to his side and I rested on the floor next to him. Taking his hand, I stroked it softly, being careful not to wake him.

My attempts were futile, though. He woke up shortly after I took his hand in mine.

"Bella, why are you on the floor?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"I woke up, and I couldn't fall back asleep. You okay? You look worried," I replied.

"Bad dream earlier. It's no big deal," he told me, pulling my hand into both of his.

"It must have been really bad."

"No."

"Edward, you looked scared when you woke up, your hands were shaking. What happened? You know you can tell me," I urged.

"I just dreamt you were being hurt. But you're okay. It was just scary. That's all," he replied.

"You're lying. There was more to it," I accused.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to scoff at me?" he asked.

"That sounds promising," I replied.

"I dreamt we were in some foreign woods with Jacob. Then Kennedy came out glittering with red eyes, and then Jacob turned into a wolf. Kennedy almost bit into your neck, like a vampire, and then Jacob lunged. That was all." He looked down at our intertwined hands.

"You listen to Jacob too much," I told him with a giggle.

"Thanks, Bella. Most girls would like some guys worrying about them. What happened to you?" he asked.

"I'm an individual. I'm not saying I think you're crazy or wrong, I just think you listen to Jacob too much. But seriously, you have to think this through. Is it possible that all of those ghost stories that we've ever heard are based off of some fact? It's almost insane to believe that we could possibly be dealing with a supernatural being."

"It's not supernatural, it's mythical. And I think we're on to something."

"You're just saying that because it's your theory."

"No, it's Jacob's theory. That's different," he told me with a smile.

I smiled back before I sighed. "You should go back to sleep," I told him.

"Then get back in bed, the iPod won't bother me," he replied.

"But I won't sleep," I protested.

"Doesn't mean I don't want you there," he said.

I felt the urge to say "aw" before I got up and got back into the bed with him.

"I don't know how I'll ever fall back asleep in my own bed again," I mused.

"Then don't go back," he teased.

"Ha ha," I replied dryly.

"We still have one more night, and then the weekends. I'm looking forward to Seattle anyway," he said.

"Same. I get to be with you, Alice, and Jasper in Seattle. It's been a while since I've gone to Seattle."

"Yes, it will be very fun," he replied.

"Too bad it involves Alice trying to spend money on me," I added.

"Don't ruin her fun. She has wanted another shopping partner. It'll be fine, Bella."

"Yippee." I could just see it now. Alice is going to be dragging me around, carrying fifty million shopping bags. I shuddered at the thought.

"Have some excitement," he told me, mussing my hair.

"No. Hey, you really should get back to sleep. I may not be tired, but you need more sleep," I added.

"Actually, I'm fine. I've gotten enough sleep these past couple of days that I'm okay with just a few hours."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Bella, stop worrying about me. I wish you'd worry more about yourself," he told me.

"Worrying about oneself is egotistical. I'm fine."

"I'm not talking about lack of sleep," he replied.

"Kennedy?" I asked.

"Possibly." He looked away. I touched my hand to his cheek to get him to look at me.

"Everything is probably fine. I just think you and Jacob worry too much. The Quileutes are known for blowing things widely out of proportion. Even Jacob thinks it's a tad bit far-fetched. I think you and maybe Billy Black are the only scared ones out there," I replied.

"Thanks," he said dryly.

"No problem. Glad to put it in perspective for you," I replied.

We talked for a while longer before we pulled together our clothes for the Seattle trip and then returned to our conversation. Edward kept me securely in his harms for most of the time. We both sat on the floor by his window, looking out at the rising sun. It looked amazing from his room because it reflected amazingly off the creek behind his house.

Around eight Alice came bounding into the room, seemingly unsurprised to see us sitting on the floor on a pile of blankets with Edward's arms wrapped around me.

"Guys, we have to go shower and get ready for registration! Angela just called and said she, Jade, and Adelle would meet up with us when we got there," Alice told us.

"Ugh, fine. I was happy not doing anything," I replied.

"Come on, I have clothes picked out for you!" Alice ignored my complaint and dragged me towards her room.

"Will I ever get to dress myself again?" I asked.

"Once I approve," Alice replied.

"I don't like you." I tried my hardest to glare, but it was so hard to maintain that same level of anger.

Alice dragged me back into her bathroom and ordered me to take a shower while she pulled out clothes for me. I sighed and got into the shower. My anger was short lived because I found that she had gotten vanilla and orchid soap that smelled _really_ good and shampoo that smelled the same.

I turned on her iPod and got into her shower, enjoying the warm water that poured from the showerhead. But, after five minutes there was a knock on the door and Alice told me it was time to get out because she wanted to get me dressed and ready.

Grumbling under my breath, I turned the water off and grabbed one of Alice's light pink towels before I got out of the shower.

"Are you decent?" Alice called in.

"Hardly," I replied.

"Good enough!" was all I heard before she walked in.

"ALICE!"

"I'm a girl, it's not like Edward's coming in too."

"What about me?" a voice asked, entering the bathroom.

NO! Please don't let it be Edward. I looked like a drowned cat in a skimpy towel and he was about to enter the bathroom.

It took Edward a total of two seconds before he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me standing in the bathroom in a towel before he slipped on a water puddle and fell flat on his butt.

"Edward!" Alice yelled, "Bella's in a towel! Get out!"

"I'm so sorry, Bella!" Edward replied, blushing five shades of red that looked absolutely adorable on him. _Oh gosh_, I can't be thinking that! I have been sleeping in his bed; I can't be attracted to him! But I have a feeling I am. I think I need to talk to Alice soon.

"It's okay. Are you all right?" I asked.

"Yeah, my butt is fine. I'm so sorry I came in, you must hate me. If you don't want to stay with me in Seattle, I'll understand," he babbled on.

"Edward, it's fine. No harm done." I wasn't sure if my attempts were working, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Now, shoo, I want to get Bella dressed!" Alice told him.

"Oh, right, sorry," he replied before getting up and leaving.

Once he was gone, Alice pulled out a lacey bra and underwear set. My jaw dropped and I blushed five shades darker.

"Alice, no!" I told her.

"Oh, please? They are so pretty! And no one will even see them. Please?" Alice threw in the sad face that no one could resist, and I relinquished quickly.

"Fine, fine. Give me the damn bra and underwear."

She looked please as she handed them to me before turning around so I could take the towel off and put them on. I looked in the mirror and noticed it must have been a push up bra. I was going to kill Alice.

"Can I look now?" She asked.

"Fine." There was no point in fighting an argument I would surely lose.

"You look so good! I knew that color would look good on you!" I looked down at the dark blue bra and underwear set before scowling at her.

"Just give me the clothes!" I demanded. She sighed and handed me a chocolate brown Hollister shirt and a pair of dark wash True Religion jeans. I was happy to see she had given me the same tennis shoes that I had worn yesterday instead of the pair of stilettos she had sitting in her closet.

Once I was dressed Alice came in and wound my hair into a messy bun before applying a small bit of make-up and freeing me from the confines of her bathroom. I had left the bathroom only to realize Edward was standing in her room.

"You ready for breakfast?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm ravenous." He smiled before taking my hand and pulling me downstairs.

We were met by the smell of warm toast and eggs, which Esme had cooked. She piled it all onto six plates for us on the breakfast table. Jasper joined us soon after and we all ate together.

Carlisle came running down the stairs because he was late and ran straight into Emmett, who was at the moment spinning around the kitchen acting like a moron. The impact threw them both on the ground. It was silent for a mere three seconds before we all burst out laughing at the image of Carlisle sitting frazzled on the floor with Emmett lying not too far from him with his legs in the air.

"Emmett, what did you do?" Rosalie yelled.

"Um, no comment," he replied.

"Ugh, you are so inept sometimes." She walked away, rolling her eyes at him.

"Guys! Registration starts in 15 minutes, you all need to leave!" Esme ordered us, pushing us towards the door.

"Esme, we are probably fine on time," Edward said.

"You don't want to be late. Now go!" None of us could get a word in, we were just sent out to Edward's Volvo where Alice, Jasper, he, and I piled in and sped off towards the school. Rosalie and Emmett were not too far behind in Rosalie's BMW.

The ride to school did not take long. The school was only a few miles from their house. We made it there shortly and Angela was waiting in front with Jade and Adelle.

"Hey guys!" I called out as I got out of Edward's car.

"Hey Bella," they all replied in unison before other random greetings were called out towards the other Cullens who were getting out of their cars. Edward quickly jogged up to my side as we headed towards the cafeteria where we would be getting our ID pictures taken and receiving our schedules.

We all walked in our loose group to the line of people waiting in line outside of the cafeteria. We all distracted ourselves by playing a game, which was Adelle's idea. She said that she would say a sentence, and then the person next to her would use the last word as their first word.

"I am bored" was her first sentence.

"Being bored is not fun," I replied.

"Fun is not waiting in line," Emmett added.

"A line is something in geometry," Edward said.

"Wow, Edward. You're such a nerd," Emmett replied.

"Shut up Emmett," Edward shot back.

"Can it, you two. Geometry is my least favorite subject," Alice said.

"My favorite subject is US history," Jasper added.

"History is so yesterday," Rosalie said.

"Yesterday was long," Jade replied.

"Long is not short," Angela added.

"Short is my favorite word," Alice said.

"No it's not. Shopping is," Emmett said.

"Well, I like the word 'short'."

"Whatever, Alice. Come on, it's our turns next," Adelle said, walking forward to Mrs. Cope, who was handing out the schedules. I quickly compared mine with everyone else's when I got mine. I had all of my six classes with Edward, three with Alice and Jasper, two with Rosalie and Emmett, and four with Jade, Adelle, and Angela. We were amidst a comparison of schedules when I heard a voice clear behind me. I turned around to see Kennedy leaning against the wall, looking straight at me.

"Why, hello again," he said.

"Hi Kennedy," I replied.

"Fancy seeing you here," he added, smiling a ultra-white smile.

"Yeah, because I go to school here." I was trying to be nice, but he was creeping me out, and I saw Edward stiffen next to me and glare at Kennedy.

"We'll probably have some classes together. Now, if you would like to, Bella, would you accompany me to Port Angeles today?" Kennedy asked.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I already have plans," I apologized, thankful I was looking away from Edward. I knew he would have been freaking out.

"What a shame. Well, I'd better be going. I'll see you all later," Kennedy said, turning around and walking gracefully out of the cafeteria. I forgot Edward had been standing there for a minute, and I unwillingly turned to look at his worried face.

"I hate him" was all he could say.

"I know. Ignore him, I'm sorry," I replied.

"He has no right to look at you that way. Thank you for declining," he said.

"Don't worry about it," I told him.

"I agree, Bella. Kennedy freaks me out," Angela said, which surprised me, because she is usually so friendly.

"I know! Bella, you need to watch it. Something isn't right with Kennedy. Like those eyes; they are purple, but they look so sinister," Alice added.

"Ugh, come on. Let's leave while we still can. If we wait too long, we'll never make it to Seattle," I said, wanting to get out of there.

"I think Bella wants the conversation to leave the fact that Kennedy loves her," Adelle replied.

"I agree," Jade added.

"I think it's cute. If only Kennedy weren't so scary," Angela said.

"Kennedy isn't right for Bella," Edward replied.

"And how would you know?" Alice asked.

"Because it's obvious," he replied.

"I think he's jealous," Emmett stated.

"Not true!" Edward exclaimed.

"I agree, I think he's jealous," Jasper added.

"Not. Jealous."

"Edward, just deal with it, you are jealous that Kennedy thinks Bella's a hottie with a body," Alice replied.

"Guys, I'm still here!" I yelled, waving my arms to remind them that I was still standing there. My face was burning hot and probably bright red with embarrassment.

"I agree with Alice," Adelle stated.

"Guys, we should leave Bella alone. She's so red she looks like she's about to burst," Angela said, coming to my defense.

"I suppose so. Come on, we'd better get going anyway. I already put your bags in the Volvo before we left, so once you all say goodbye, we can go," Alice said.

"Okay, bye guys!" I told everyone, hugging them each goodbye one at a time. Jade, Adelle, and Angela each wished for me to have a good time. Emmett pulled me into a bear hug and Rosalie kissed my cheek. Alice then grabbed me and pulled me away so we could leave. Edward smiled as he took my hand and walked me towards the car. Edward got into the driver's seat with me in the front seat. Alice and Jasper scooted into the back and Alice pulled out her MacBook Pro with the Verizon Wireless card in so she could tell us which streets to turn on using mapquest.

She explained how we were staying at the W Hotel in Seattle, which wasn't far from either Pike Place Market or the shopping, which was perfect. I was actually excited about this end of the summer trip. Maybe it was because I was going to spend the next few days with Edward. Or maybe it was because I was getting out of Forks for a bit. I knew I would like to believe it was the latter, but I knew that the real reason for my happiness was because I was going to spend the time with Edward. That thought angered me, because I knew that nothing would happen from my crush on him, and it was pointless to hope. I knew that once we started school, he would find himself hanging out less and less with me until he finally left entirely. I might have to consider going out with someone like Kennedy, because I figured Kennedy already liked me.

It was wrong to think of things like that, but I knew that I was beginning to care too much about Edward. I suppose I'd have to talk to Alice or somebody about this soon. If I waited too long, I might be too late.

Edward's rubbing calming circles on my hand brought me out of my thoughts. I looked over to see him smiling his breathtaking crooked smile before he turned back and looked at the road again. Alice reached forward between the two of us to turn the radio onto a pop/rock/alternative station that was playing All At Once by The Fray at the moment. Alice began singing along, her voice weaving delicate harmonies through the notes.

I smiled as I leaned into the seat and looked out the window as the scenery sped fast, leading us to Seattle.


	9. First Kiss

Chapter 9: First Kiss

I continued to look outside the window for most of the ride to Seattle. We stopped briefly in Olympia to get lunch over at a small Chinese restaurant where we got excellent food. We each got a container of food and shared amongst each other. Jasper also made sure we would let him stop at a bathroom because he had not went before we left for registration. Edward sat next to me the entire time, always on edge. I had a feeling his behavior was this way because of Kennedy's reappearance. I felt bad because I knew there was nothing I could do about Kennedy. But, I also felt irritated because Edward was blowing this widely out of proportion. He was convinced something was wrong with Kennedy. Jacob was probably to blame from this; he's always so worried about these tribal things. It wasn't until my phone rang that I became aware of my surroundings. I looked at the caller ID, and it said "Jacob."

"Hello?" I answered, flipping the phone open.

"Bella," Jacob breathed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They found Sam."

"Oh my gosh, they did? That's great! Is he okay?"

"Somewhat. He's real shaken up. He refused to tell us what happened, although he did say the people who are taking everyone else were not the ones who took him. He also said he wasn't taken. Apparently, something just _happened_. I don't buy it. There's something more to it. What do you think?" He asked.

"I don't know. But I agree, something isn't fitting. Maybe you should have him see a doctor, he could be developing a mental illness."

"Old Quil is going to look at him today, he has a theory relating to one of our old legends."

"What, now Sam is a vampire, too?" I teased.

"Haha, Bella. Please be serious. I'm worried about Sam. These things aren't making sense. He won't even tell Leah what's wrong."

"Wow. I figured if Sam would tell anyone, it would be Leah. I wonder what's up."

"I know. None of us are remotely sure what could be going on. Whatever it is, it's obviously tied in with the disappearances. I'm just not sure. Sam is very scared, though. He's so shaken up, there's more to it than a rebellious teenager. Anyway, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon, Bells, love you," Jacob told me.

"Bye, Jake. I love you too." I closed the phone, perplexed.

"What was all that about?" Alice asked me.

"Jake's worried about Sam. They found him, but he's real shaken up. Everyone's worried. No one knows what's wrong," I explained.

"We could have Carlisle look at him. He'd be able to guess if it was medically related real quickly," Edward offered.

"That sounds like a good idea. We should call him when we get the chance and ask him if he can make a short trip up to La Push and check out Sam," I replied.

"Jasper, there's a bathroom stop up here, do you need to use it?" Alice asked, breaking the stressful atmosphere.

"No, I don't. One time I almost wet my pants in the car, and I swear, I'll never live it down!" Jasper exclaimed.

"Do you want me to reply to that, Jasper? The fact that you almost wet yourself is not a good precursor. You basically damned yourself then. So very sorry," Edward replied.

"Don't make me hurt you!" Jasper yelled.

"I'm driving, if we get into an accident, it'll be your fault!" Edward retorted.

"And I'll hurt both of you for being idiots, so shut up!" Alice added, ending the argument.

It took a total of three seconds before all of us burst out laughing. Between laughs I saw the "10 miles to Seattle" sign and called everyone's attention to it. We all started cheering and Edward sped up a little bit. Alice began gushing about all of the clothes she wanted to get me. She said something about a formal dress, more winter clothes, and a nice wool coat. I was a little afraid about how much this shopping spree would cost, but she kept on reassuring me that Carlisle and Esme loved me like a daughter and they wanted to spend money on me.

I tuned out Alice's voice and looked out the window again. It wasn't raining yet, which was promising. But the key word was "yet," there were clouds overhead and I was sure the rain was bound to appear soon.

The trees were flying past and blending into one as I noticed a thinning of the forest around us. Suddenly, I the trees disappeared completely and were replaced with houses. Up ahead, about 3 miles away, was Seattle. I could feel my excitement bubbling over as we neared the city. I looked over and saw Edward smiling at me. It was obvious he was excited, as well. I returned the smile before reaching over and squeezing his hand. He kept my hand wrapped up in his as he continued to drive towards downtown Seattle. I could not wait to wander Seattle.

"Edward, when we get to Seattle, I'm going to go for a walk. I want to see the park (AN, I haven't been to Seattle in over a year…and I really don't remember if their were any parks or any of that…so pretend there are parks there. I'm sort of creating my own central park within this story right now)," I told him.

"Why?" He asked.

"I just want some time to walk around," I replied.

"May I accompany you?" He asked.

"Um, sure, if you really want to."

"I'd love to."

We continued to stay silent for the rest of the drive towards town. It was only a matter of time before we entered into the city. The buildings were huge. It had been so long since I had been to a big city. Occasionally, I would go on vacation with my parents to California and Florida, but otherwise we stayed in Forks. The city was absolutely beautiful, too. I made a promise to myself that when I got a chance, I would go up into the Space Needle. I've wanted to go up in that thing for as long as I can remember.

It took us another 15 minutes to get to the hotel with the help of Jasper and Alice in the back reading off mapquest directions for us off of their laptop. I had to admit, the hotel was beautiful. It was very contemporary and modern. We both had rooms on the 10th floor and they were right next to each other. The rooms had large LG LCD TVs and comfortable couches that were almost built into the windows. I chose the bed by the window because—for some reason—I felt safer. Edward pulled our toiletries from the duffle bags that Alice had packed for us as I lay on the bed. The bed was so soft and I nearly fell asleep right then. Suddenly, there was a jumping on the bed and I was pulled into someone's arms. I looked up shocked to find a grinning Edward.

"You aren't going to fall asleep on me, are you?" He asked.

"This bed is so nice, though," I replied.

"Then I'll have to get you out of this room." He picked me up and walked me towards the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the park. You said you wanted to go, right?"

"Yes, but what about Alice and Jasper?"

"I'll take care of that," he replied, pulling out a pearl black Samsung slider and dialed a "3" on his phone before pressing send. "Hey Alice, it's Edward. Bella is falling asleep on me. Okay? Yeah, we'll be back by dinner. Where are we going? Oh, Metropolitan Grill sounds good. Thanks, Alice. Yeah, tell Jasper. We'll see you soon."

"Alice is number 3 on your speed dial?" I asked. "Who is number 2, since the number 1 spot is reserved for your mailbox?"

"You," he replied, looking down.

"Seriously?" I couldn't help the huge grin that broke across my face. "What's the order of speed dials?"

"You, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and the house phone," he replied.

"Well, you're also my number 2," I replied with a smile. "Then it's my mom, dad, Jade, Adelle, Angela, Jacob, and the house phone."

"Well, I suppose we are even. Now come on, we want to have some time in the park. You'll be fine in that jacket, but if you get cold you can have mine." I looked down at the sweatshirt Alice had put in the car for me. It was a very pale white-blue and looked good against the brown of the shirt.

"You don't need to give me your jacket, I'll be fine."

"Bella, I grew up in Alaska, I can handle much colder—trust me."

"Well, I've lived in Forks all my life. I know cold weather, too, you Eskimo."

"Eskimo, that's a new one. You always make things interesting, don't you?" He added.

"Of course. Come on, you said it yourself, we should get going." I took his hand softly in mine and led him out the door of our hotel room, making sure I had a key before the door closed on us. I memorized the room number over and over in my head before we turned to go to the elevator and head downstairs. We probably looked pretty odd leaving the hotel while we had our hands intertwined, but anyone who knew us would know that we were not dating, _not even if I wanted to_.

He led me towards the park, which was marked out, on the map that we were given by the concierge. The walk was not long and it only took us about ten minutes, while we laughed and joked about everything random on the way. When we got there, he walked me in. We just followed the path and looked at everything going on around us. I had to admit, the park _was_ beautiful. It almost reminded me of central park with its high walls and lots of trees and flowing green grass. There was a small playground near the entrance and a large fountain in the center so people could sit around it and talk. There were also benches every twenty feet.

Not once did he ever let go of my hand as we walked through Washington Park. We continued to follow the path and for once, we were nearly silent. I didn't know why he had stopped talking. He was looking down, almost as if he were planning something. I saw something in his eye that looked like he was thinking about something serious or he was thinking of strategies.

"Edward, what's wrong? You're completely silent and you haven't looked up once in nearly ten minutes," I told him.

"What? Oh, sorry, Bella. I've just been thinking." He finally looked up then, and I saw a new emotion in his eyes: worry.

"You're worried. I can see it in your eyes. What have you been thinking about that would get you so worried?"

"Just something I've been thinking about that I need to do," he replied.

"And that would be…?" I asked.

"You'll know when you find out."

"Wow, cryptic, much?" I replied.

He laughed; it was the perfect sound of angels playing a harp. I smiled as I squeezed his hands and we kept walking. For a little longer, it was silent again as we continued to wind out way along the large path.

"Bella, I have to ask, would you have said yes to Kennedy today?" He asked.

"I don't know. I mean, yeah he can be a little freaky at times, but I think he just wants to be accepted. I guess we'll have to see, I just want to get to know him better before I say yes to anything," I replied.

"That sounds like a decent enough answer. Don't worry, it's not you I don't trust, it's him."

"Well, what about Lauren or Jessica, if one of them asked you out, what would you say?" I asked, turning the tables on him.

"I would probably not say yes right now. I'd have to see if they were _less_ obnoxious than they were at the water park, but I still probably won't say yes," he replied, smiling at me.

"Good answer," I said with a laugh.

We continued to walk for a little while longer when we came to a small pond on the far right end of the park. There was almost nothing around here and no one was near. There were a few benches surrounding it and a sign on the side describing the types of fish there were in the bond. There was a small waterfall going into it, like the type that people will have in the water features in their front yards. I started to walk towards the pond but Edward had stopped. My hand was still intertwined in his and I couldn't go anywhere until he let me go.

"What—" I began to ask, but the look on his face stopped me. It was a mix of indecision, like he was torn between two ideas.

Then suddenly, he pulled me to him and pressed his lips ever so softly to mine. My blood automatically boiled and I wound my hands into his hair as I pulled him closer. I felt his arms wrap tighter around my waist as if he were afraid I would disappear any minute.

It was probably my own heaven on earth, sitting there with Edward's arms wrapped around me and his warm, soft lips pressed to mine. We continued to kiss as he stroked my back and I pulled my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

The kiss was my first, and utterly perfect. I would have traded anything just so I could have had my first kiss with Edward Cullen. I smiled as I continued to kiss him and pulled me closer, if that were even possible. After five wondrous minutes of his kisses, we finally pulled back. He kept me securely in his grasp as he looked into my eyes. Suddenly, his eyes turned apologetic.

"Sorry, I was probably out of line for that," he admonished.

"If you don't recall, I believe I kissed you back."

"So you really don't care that I just kissed you for five minutes?" He asked.

"No, I'm glad you did," I replied.

"I'm happy you think so, I really do like you, Bella, but we might want to wait a little longer before we start dating. Your parents might not be so lenient if we start dating this quickly and they will begin to question what you're doing over at my house. I think we should just wait a little longer to get to know each other before we jump into dating. Oftentimes, relationships don't always last if there isn't friendship to back it up."

I was sad he didn't want to date me right away, but I trusted him, and he had a say in this too, so I took a deep breath and said, "That sounds reasonable."

"Okay, good," he said with a smile as he disengaged his arms from my back and took one of my hands from around his neck and we continued our stroll.

I couldn't help but think about the kiss we had shared as we turned around to walk back to the hotel because it was getting late. That kiss just felt so right, almost _too_ right. I wasn't sure if Edward even felt the same way about me. I really knew I needed to talk to Alice, and soon!

"Where are we going for dinner tonight?" I asked.

"Metropolitan Grill. It's an amazing steakhouse, you'll love it," he replied, smiling.

"Cool. Hey, we should get desert after dinner. Jade mentioned a gelato place down the street from our hotel a couple weeks ago when she went here with her church group. I know Adelle came not too long ago too, with her synagogue group."

"Gelato sounds great, I'll tell Alice when we get back," he replied.

I looked around briefly for a minute before I realized we had already left the park from a side entrance. It brought me right near the Seattle Apple store, which was an awesome-looking, large, glass cube with an apple floating in the middle (AN, I'm modeling this after the New York apple store, which I just saw this summer. That place is _so_ awesome!). My jaw dropped and I pulled my Samsung Stripe our of my dark brown leather Coach purse that Alice had given me this morning. I wanted to kill her when I saw it and I hoped that she had already owned it before she gave it to me. I was definitely going to kill her if it turns out she bought it just for me. I hate it when people spend money on me, especially when it's a lot of money. That was part of the reason why I didn't want to go on this trip. The only reason why I went was so I could spend time with Alice, Jasper, and Edward. And also because I could see Seattle again.

He kept my hand in his while we headed back to the hotel so we could change for dinner. Alice told me she had brought something for me to wear. I swear I saw Edward looking at me while we walked back to the hotel.

Alice and Jasper were just walking back in when we reached the hotel. Edward yelled out, calling their attention, as we got closer. Alice looked at our still intertwined hands and she smiled an all-knowing grin. Skipping to my side, she pulled me from Edward and led me back into the hotel. Jasper whispered something to Edward, which must have annoyed him, and Edward punched lightly on the arm.

"Alice, I need to talk to you later," I whispered in her ear.

"About what?" She asked.

"Your brother," I mouthed. She smiled again and I was amazed her smile could get any larger than it already was.

She led me upstairs and we entered my hotel room through the connecting doors. She quickly went to the duffle bag and pulled out a hip-length dark red silk spaghetti strap dress with silver beads along the hems. It went above black leggings and really pretty black leather boots. She pushed me into the bathroom and made me change while Edward changed into a dark blue shirt and black pants with a pair of black tennis shoes. Alice did really well with the outfit she had chosen for me, but I was afraid I would be really cold when the sun went down.

I checked to make sure Edward was dressed before I came out of the bathroom and I heard a gasp behind me. Turning around, I saw Edward had his mouth wide open and he was staring at me with smoldering eyes. I smiled tentatively at him before I turned to Alice. It took Edward a minute to recover before he yelled at Alice.

"Alice, are you _insane_? She'll freeze!" He exclaimed.

"But it won't look good with a jacket!" She objected.

"I don't care. I want her warm."

"Edward is right, Alice. Just have her wear a white long sleeve shirt under the dress, it'll look fine," Jasper suggested.

"I suppose," Alice replied, going to her closet and pulling out a tight white shirt. "Boys, turn around!" She added before she handed me the shirt and I lowered the straps of the dress and the shirt on over the bra. I was amazed the blue of the bra didn't show through the white. I heard another gasp and I looked up and saw that you could see my reflection in the window. _Edward_ had seen _me_ the bra Alice had put me in this morning. I felt he blood rush to my cheeks and I fought the urge to run out of the room. Edward sensed my distress because he scooped me into his arms and apologized. I wasn't sure to why he was apologizing, but I told him it was okay and I just wanted to get dinner. Alice had already switched out my brown purse and into a black one while I was changing and we were ready to leave for dinner.

She said the restaurant was not far from the hotel so it was okay to walk. Jasper and Edward walked forward a little and Alice turned to glare at me with a glint in her eyes. I knew what was coming next.

"Talk," she said in her beautiful, high soprano voice. I groaned and looked at her before I lapsed into my very _long_ story about the kiss in the park and how it felt. She smiled at me with an all-knowing grin as I continued my story. When I finally finished she hugged me and told me she knew it. I grinned back as we continued towards dinner. But what I didn't tell Alice was that I was falling for her brother much harder than I had realized.


	10. Again?

Chapter 10: Again?

EDWARD CULLEN

I can't believe I kissed her. I know I probably shouldn't have, but I could not stop myself. She looked so beautiful sitting there by the water and the wind was pulling at her hair and the sun was hitting in just right. I just lost it. And now she probably resents me for it because I'm too afraid to start dating her. I feel too strongly for her, and I need to make sure these feelings are true before I jump into anything. But then another part of me protested, wanting to be close with Bella without having to worry about the "friends" question. It didn't help that we had only known each other for a few days. How was I supposed to tell her that I was falling fast for her? I sighed and continued walking towards the restaurant with Jasper next to me and Alice and Bella behind us, whispering about something.

"Hey, Edward, what's with the thinking face?" Jasper asked me.

"I'll have to tell you later," I replied.

"That's not fair! At least give me a clue," he begged.

"I kissed Bella," I whispered.

"No way! You finally got the balls to kiss her? Awesome!" Jasper exclaimed. I heard the whispering behind us cease for a minute before it started up again in double time. I swear I heard giggling, too.

"Jasper, shut up!" I replied, my face turning red from embarrassment.

"No way, this is way too much fun!" I punched him before stalking away, hoping he'd not try to keep up with my new pace. I _was_ always faster than everyone else, anyway.

"Hey, cool it. So, what's going to happen now?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"What? Why not?"

"Can we talk about this later?" I hissed.

"Fine, but you're not off the hook. We'll talk in the lobby tonight. We can get some soda and hash it all out. How does that sound?"

"Deal," I replied.

I heard the footsteps behind me speeding up, tapping lightly on the ground below me. I turned around to see Bella skipping towards me with a grin on her beautiful face. Suddenly, one of her feet got caught on the other in the black boots she was wearing—which looked amazing on her, I had to admit—and she fell forward. I stopped and caught her before she could fall to the ground and I quickly righted her. She smiled sheepishly at me and blushed nearly five shades darker. I returned the same smile. Alice moved to Jasper's side and we all walked towards the restaurant that was about fifty feet ahead of us.

When we walked into the restaurant, the young, blond-haired, blue-eyed hostess who was maybe a year or two older than we were appraised us with lusty eyes. She could see right away that Jasper and Alice were together, but she knew that there was nothing holding Bella to me—no matter how much I wish there were.

"Hello, a table for four?" She asked, eyeing me.

"Yes, under 'Cullen,'" Alice replied.

"Of course. Your table will be ready momentarily." She gave another quick glance at me, and then a smug glance at Bella. I could see the look in her eyes—she thought Bella was clearly plainer than she—herself—was. I could feel my anger boiling. Who did this girl think she was? Bella was probably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and this girl knew nothing. She was only looking skin deep. Just because Bella didn't wear an inch of make-up didn't mean she wasn't the most beautiful girl who had ever existed.

I looked at Bella again with a softness in my eyes. She looked so beautiful tonight. That dress brought out the cream colors in her skin and her mahogany hair looked so beautiful as it framed her lovely, heart-shaped face. I knew I would have to save her eyes for last. They were such a deep chocolate brown that I got lost in them. I had never thought that brown eyes could be so deep, but Bella amazed me in every way.

Blushing slightly, I remembered what had occurred in the hotel room. Bella had to put on a long-sleeved shirt under her dress or else she would have frozen. I had tried to be the gentleman that Esme had always told me to be, and I looked away. But I had forgotten that the window would reflect the room like a mirror. Bella looked so beautiful in what Alice had put her into. That dark blue of the bra brought attention to her pale skin. I resisted the urge to pull Bella back into my arms and kiss her with as much passion as I could muster. I knew I shouldn't think of things like that if I wanted to be a gentleman. But I couldn't _not_ think of her—every aspect of her, like how I could always see the intuition in her eyes as she saw everything differently from everyone else, how she was so light and delicate, and how she was so brilliant and understood things without anyone having to explain what they had meant. I wished I could be with her in every way possible. But there was something in my way: Kennedy. He always showed up, and it was obvious he wanted Bella for himself—away from me. I held back the cry that threatened to penetrate the silence as I pulled her small hand into mine. I knew I recognized something about Kennedy. I didn't know what to think of him, though. Did I believe in myths? I suppose. From what Jacob had told me, something had to make sense from something. But was Kennedy a vampire? That, I didn't know. It reminded me a bit of the night my parents died. There was a mysterious air about the killer. And he had those black eyes. They weren't very dark brown, they were flat black. I raked my memory for any other clues. I think he was pale, but I can't remember clearly enough. But I do remember that chilling laugh and that feeling of danger. It was like a sense that my body knew something was wrong, but couldn't that have been that way with any other normal killer?

Maybe that was the clue. Maybe my parents' killer had been a vampire—a cold one. It sounded far-fetched, but it made sense. It seemed to fit, how I had never heard a gunshot, or the scream of a stab, and how the whispers seemed to quiet and fast to have been human. Maybe that was it. But I don't know how there could have been a connection between Kennedy and my parents' killer besides the fact that they could have both been vampires—if that was even possible. I was probably losing my mind, and that's what Bella would have told me. She would have laughed that beautiful laugh and told me, "You've been listening to Jacob too much. He's just supersticious. Those Quileutes are always superstitious."

Maybe I was superstitious. But it all made sense—in a way, I suppose—and now the question was, what was I supposed to do with this new theory? I couldn't just go up to Kennedy and call him out on it, and accuse him of being a vampire. He would deny it, and probably kill me later. I would just have to protect Bella from him.

But that was the other question. If Kennedy is a vampire, then shouldn't he be blood-thirsty? Maybe he wants Bella as his next meal. My mind shuddered at the possibility of Bella lying on floor, cold and white—completely dry of blood, never to blush again and smile and laugh. Just the though alone made me shudder.

I had to chase these thoughts away for the time-being. I couldn't let them take over my being. I was here, in Seattle, with Bella for the next couple of days. I should enjoy it. Maybe I can sort my feelings out better before we return to Forks. Then, I can deal with Kennedy after go home.

Not even noticing that we had already arrived at the table and were seated, I turned my eyes to the menu in front of me. Bella was seated to my right with Jasper to my left. We were in a circular booth covered with a white table cloth and a small, elegant gold candle adorning the center. I looked around and smelled the warm food being delivered to the tables around us. Shaking my head briefly to clear the thoughts, I returned my eyes to the matter at hand: my menu. I needed to stop spacing out. Maybe it's just the Seattle air. I'm just getting used to being away from my current home.

"Hello, my name is Evan, and I'll be your server for tonight," a girl with fake blond hair and pale green eyes said. I couldn't help but notice the look she gave me when she arrived at our table.

Alice smiled briefly before glancing at me and questioning me with her eyes. I knew what she wanted to know: had I noticed our server giving me "the look." I nodded briefly in return before looking at Bella and then back up to our server.

"What may I get you to drink?" She asked us, looking mainly at me.

"Just water, thank you," I replied.

"I'll have a Coke," Bella added. Jasper and Alice rattled off their orders: sprites. Evan sent one more smile in my direction before she returned to the kitchen to pull our drinks for us. As soon as she was gone, the table erupted in conversation.

"Did you see the way she looked at you, Edward?" Alice asked with a laugh.

"Ugh, yes. She's at least 21, though. She can't be a waitress and be under 21 because minors can't serve alcohol," I replied.

"Doesn't stop her from blatantly wanting you. I think it's kind of cute, in an odd way," Jasper added.

"Too bad she annoys me," I said.

"You sure?" Jasper asked just to annoy me.

"Very sure," I replied.

"Guys be nice," Bella stated, coming to my rescue. I reminded myself to kiss her for that next time I got the chance.

"Bella, he's our brother. We're never nice," Alice explained.

"Very true. Like that time you just stood by and let Emmett get me drunk," I replied with a sneer, shuddering at the memory.

"That was _very_ funny! Your streaking through Denali was priceless. Besides, I wasn't the one who got you drunk. I didn't even know Emmett had given you beer. But I can't blame him for it. That event made my entire life worth it!" Alice replied.

"Do not remind me," I replied.

"But you looked so funny, and I'm sure Bella would love to hear about how Esme thought your little butt was so cute!" Alice explained.

"ALICE!" Edward exclaimed.

"What?" She pretended to look confused.

"Forget it."

Finally, the waitress brought our drink and we ordered our food. I couldn't keep my mind on the table in front of me. My mind kept wandering away and I was fighting to keep it focused. It helped when I felt Bella's hand brush my own and I remembered that here I was, sitting next to the most beautiful girl whom my eyes had ever seen. I looked over to her and saw her smiling kindly at me. Pulling myself together, I returned the same smile and pulled her hand into mine.

We all sat quietly and ate our food once it came. The silence was not uncomfortable, though. I actually reveled in it. It was as if I had just left a loud room and entered into a secluded forest.

It stayed silent until the waitress came for our bill, as we had already refused dessert. She placed the bill container at the center of the table, blatantly unsure of whom to give the bill to, because we were all teenagers eating in a nice restaurant. I could see it in her eyes, she believed us to be "trust-fund babies" of sorts. She was very wrong, though. Our father's wealth had no effect on us. We would appreciate everything he had ever given us even if we were poor.

Alice, Jasper, and I looked at each other, betting who would reach for the bill first. Bella reached her small hand up to grasp the bill but Alice quickly slapped it down.

"No way in hell are you paying, Bella! This is a family thing. I love you, but you need to let us pay and stop worrying so much," Alice explained to make Bella feel better. It didn't work.

"But Alice, you are treating me to a weekend in Seattle and we are staying in a beautiful hotel _and_ taking me shopping while we are here. Please let me pay for this one dinner," Bella argued.

"No," Jasper retorted.

"Jasper, you're in this too? Come on, someone be on my side," Bella begged.

"I agree with Alice. Bella, you are basically family. Let us pay. Don't make me strap your hands down," Jasper replied.

"Bella, put the credit card down," I commanded.

"Ugh, fine. But I'm not happy," she stated.

"That's your own stubbornness, and not my problem," I told her.

"Jasper, you pay. It will make Bella be quiet," Alice said.

"Okay," he replied, placing his credit card smoothly into the bill container.

"You people are impossible," Bella stated.

"And yet you still love us!" Alice replied.

"How I manage is still a mystery to me."

It took us less than 5 seconds to burst out laughing. I laughed until my sides hurt. Our enjoyment was interrupted by Evan, our waitress, coming to collect the bill. She slipped a wink at me before turning away. Ignoring the urge to throw up, I turned to Bella to talk to her. We had hardly talked since our walk in the park before the faithful kiss.

"Well that is irritating," I said.

"I think it's cute. She obviously likes you," Bella replied.

"But I don't feel the same way for her," I protested.

"You hardly know her, you need to at least talk to her," Bella explained. I was almost hurt that she was so keen on protecting Evan. Shouldn't Bella want me to not like Evan because it would prove that I like her more? It wasn't like I loved her, right? I mean, I've only known Bella for a few days. But my heart beats faster whenever I'm near her and it's almost painful to be away from her for any length of time. Could it be the early stages of love? I never really believed in soul mates and love at first sight before, but this current episode made me rethink my original beliefs.

"I'm not sure, but I would feel an attraction, like rapidly beating heart or something."

"Well, I suppose it's good you don't want her like that."

"Why would that be?" I asked, confused. Did she or did she not want me to like Evan?

"Because it would make this trip more awkward than it already is."

"How is it awkward?" I asked again.

"Because Alice is forcing me to let you all spend money on me when I'd much rather you didn't. Obviously," Bella replied.

"So you are basically saying we are conspiring against you?" I questioned with a grin.

"Yes."

By the time Bella issued her final thought the waitress had returned the bill and Jasper signed his name and we were getting up and preparing to leave to walk back to the hotel. I took Bella's hand and led her towards the exit with Alice and Jasper in tow. Bella must have been getting tired because her steps began to slow a bit and I saw her yawn.

"Are you going to be able to make it to the hotel room?" I asked her.

"I hope so," she replied, yawning again.

"Do you need me to carry you?"

"No. I think I'll make it." Her reply was cut short when she tripped over a bit of exposed cement in the sidewalk. I jumped to catch her before pulling her into my arms so she could rest against my chest. She tried to protest but I refused to listen, knowing that her reason for not wanting to be carried was ridiculous anyway. I'd prefer her in my arms rather than lying on the sidewalk after tripping over her own legs. Anyway, she would be tired because she only got a little amount of sleep the night before.

I walked us back to the hotel and told Jasper that I'd meet him in the lobby soon so we could talk. On our way up to the room I noticed that Bella had not spoken at all so I looked down and realized that she had fallen asleep. The looked so beautiful lying in my arms, so young and small.

I managed to get the door to our hotel room open without dropping my sleeping angel and I set her softly on the bed nearest the window. She barely shuffled as I took her shoes off. I knew she would want to undress herself so I unwillingly woke her up because I figured she didn't want me to undress her.

"Hm?" She asked as I brushed her hair out of her face and tried to wake her.

"Bella, you need to get into your pajamas," I told her.

"Too tired…" she responded.

"You won't want to sleep in that. Alice will kill you." It was a fact, the minute she got that silk shirt wrinkled, Alice would have her head.

"Ugh, fine. Close your eyes. Let me get my clothes," she replied, getting up and pulling out her dark blue light cotton shorts, pale grey leggings, and light blue long sleeve shirt. About ten minutes later she had brushed her teeth, washed her face, and gotten into her pajamas. I helped her get back into bed and tucked her in softly. I knew she was tired.

"I'm going to go down and talk to Jasper. I have my cell with me if you need me. Will you be okay?" I asked, worried about her for some odd reason.

"Yes, of course I'll be okay. You worry too much about me," she replied, pushing herself up to kiss my forehead. I was taken aback, surprised by her gesture. My surprise didn't last long because I leaned down and kissed her back. I whispered her another goodnight before I stood back up and exited the room. I knew I needed to talk to Jasper now. He knew more about this more than I did. Maybe he would help me sort out my feelings. I could only hope Bella felt the same way that I thought I did.


	11. Possibilities

Chapter 11: Possibilities

EDWARD CULLEN

"What took you so long?" Jasper asked when I arrived at the lobby and sat down across from him at his table.

"I was making sure Bella would be okay," I replied.

"Well, I got you a root beer for you to drink. So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" He sipped his sprite, looking at me expectantly. I wasn't really sure what I was going to tell him, let alone how I would even start.

"I don't know where to start," I explained.

"I'll give you the gist of what I'm guessing, how's that?" He looked at me for approval and I nodded, allowing him to continue.

"So far, from what I understand, you really like Bella, and hope she likes you, and you've kissed her already. You just don't want to jump into anything and possibly ruin your friendship," Jasper said.

"That's basically it. I really do like Bella, and I want to be with her. She makes me feel…different, I suppose. Even though I've only known her for a little while, I feel as if I could spend the rest of my life with her. I'm scared, as well. I've never felt this way about anyone before, and the idea that I might be falling hard for someone frightens me."

"You_ are_ in a pickle. What now?"

"I suppose I just go with it. I need to tell her how I feel eventually, though. She can't think I'm just pulling the 'friends with benefits' card on her." I looked down at my feet, which were resting on the edge of the stool I was sitting in. All of the events from the past few days were rushing through my head at impossible speeds.

"True. I think you should wait until we go back home. Don't go upstairs and screw her, or anything. Just continue to be her friend and talk to her as much as you can. It will help you sort out your feelings."

"But what do you think I am feeling?" I asked.

"I think you might be in the early stages of love," he replied.

"Love?" The word—let alone—seemed odd when it came off of my tongue. It tickled, felt funny. I had never been in love before and I wasn't even sure of what to expect.

"Yes. You've never been in love before, so the feelings are probably foreign to you," he explained.

"What did you feel?"

"When I fell in love with Alice, my heart would beat whenever she was near—and it still does, I always wanted to be near her, always thought about her, wanted to protect her from everything…" he continued on, but I began considering everything he said with what I was experiencing. I always wanted to be with Bella, wanted to protect her, and my heart beat rapidly whenever she was near. Could I possibly be falling in love with Isabella Swan? It was plausible, I suppose, but I could hardly believe it as I considered it.

"Well?" He asked me.

"I think I might be falling in love," I confirmed.

"Man, finally! Wait until Esme hears! She'll be ecstatic!"

"Wait," I told him, holding my hands up like I was stopping him from barreling into a brick wall. "Don't start telling everyone you know. I'm not even sure if it's actually love."

"HEY EVERYONE, EDWARD IS IN LOVE WITH AN ACTUAL GIRL!" Jasper shouted, ignoring my request.

"Jasper, what the _hell_ was that?" I exclaimed before I punched him in the arm.

"I just had to get that out of my system." He smiled sheepishly at me. I fought the urge to punch him again. I knew Alice would kill me if he returned in less than perfect condition.

"Well, congratulations, you thoroughly embarrassed me. In public." My face proceeded to turn red from embarrassment. Jasper was going to die.

"That's what older brothers are for, obviously. You need to get back upstairs eventually, though. I can already tell you hate being away from Bella."

"Why does this feel so surreal?" I asked, still unable to grasp the fact that I could possible be in love. (AN, I am typing this on the plane flight to Italy, and I feel completely idiotic)

"Because it's all new to you, so you aren't used to the feelings that are coursing through your body as we speak."

"Well that sounded dirty." I chuckled.

"You are such a five-year-old sometimes, Edward," Jasper scolded.

"Deal with it. You aren't much better."

"I believe you are confusing me with Emmett, dear brother of mine."

"You both are five-year-olds, how's that?" I replied.

"And that makes you middle-aged."

"Middle-aged is better than five!"

"Just go back upstairs, Edward," Jasper said, resting his head in his hands.

"Will do. Bye, Jasper." I got up to go back upstairs and go to bed. I couldn't help but replay our conversation in my head. Jasper thought it was love, and I wasn't even sure what it was. If it was love, I surely couldn't ignore Bella. I knew that eventually I would have to speak with her about it. I could only hope that she felt the same way.

I got into the elevator and rode the long trip back up to our room where Bella was most likely asleep. My heart was beating so quickly in my chest at just the prospect of seeing Bella. I was also sad that we had two double beds instead of one king bed, because I could have slept in the bed with Bella again if we had a king. Although that desire was huge, I didn't want to push Bella into something she didn't want. Besides, we had only known each other for a few days. Were things moving too fast? Would she not want me? Would she want me to back off? My heart froze at the concept that maybe she didn't want me. I knew I wanted her, and this wanting could be the death of me. But what else was there to do?

By this time, I had reached the door to our hotel room and was standing idle outside of it. I didn't know how she would react if I just walked in. Maybe she was changing, or showering. I ignored the excitement that coursed through me at the idea of seeing Bella dressed in anything less than her usual t-shirt and jeans. Her body was absolutely beautiful. The funny thing was, she didn't even believe she was beautiful. She believed that she was plain. She was the absolute opposite of plain.

I knew I couldn't wait any longer. I had to go into the room. I hesitated once more before I pushed my translucent, pale blue W key card (AN, they don't look like this, but I don't like the current W cards. They are so plain. They are just white with a map of the world and a big W on them) and sliding it into the lock. I watched the green light appear before I cracked the door open and knocked, signaling Bella that I was entering.

"Come in?" Was her sleepy reply.

"Bella, it's me," I explained as I entered the room. She had kicked her covers off during the time that I was down with Jasper. I walked over and pressed my lips to her temple. She looked a little cold just lying on the covers so I picked her up and laid her under the covers. She smiled lightly as she snuggled deeper into the blankets. I smiled in return before I turned to pull out a pair of plain black pajama pants and a dark red t-shirt.

Moving to the bathroom, I thought more about my conversation with Jasper. He seemed so sure that I loved Bella, and _I _wasn't even sure about my feelings. I knew I wanted her, but I just wasn't sure as to how _much_ I wanted her. Thinking back to Kennedy, I remembered the anger that pulsed through me when he was near. This could be my answer. Maybe I did wish to be more than friends with Bella.

I finished washing my face, combing my hair, and brushing my teeth. I could hardly contain the enthusiasm that surged through me as I remembered that Bella was just outside the door, lying in bed. She was too much of an angel for her own good. There was no way she could possibly be meant for me.

Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and stepped out into the drafty bedroom. Bella's chest was silently rising and falling and she looked more angelic than I would have thought possible.

I walked over to my bed and got under the covers and turned to look at Bella. Her eyes were half open and she gazed at me with a sleepy look.

"Go back to sleep, Bella," I told her, angry that I woke her up.

"I know," she replied with a dreamy smile. "Sleep well, Edward."

"Sleep well, Bella," I said, but she was already gone.

I stretched out before I felt myself, as well, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Halfway through the night, I woke up to my name being called. I looked over to see Bella uttering my name as she slept.

"Edward," she said again, before turning over and sighing. I could hardly explain the emotion that coursed through me at that moment. She actually dreamt of me. Was that even possible?

I laid my head back down onto the pillow as slumber pulled me back under.   
————————————————————————————————————

I woke back up later that day to the sun streaming in through the curtains that we had forgotten to close that night. The clock said nine-thirty. I looked over to find Bella still asleep in her bed. Unwilling to wake her, I pushed myself out of bed and grabbed my clothes for that day, which consisted of a pair of slightly ripped dark wash jeans and a plain white t-shirt. I collected my shower items, as well, and went to the bathroom to shower so Bella could sleep longer.

The shower was very calming and it helped me thing about how I would handle this new issue. It was obvious that I liked Bella, but what was I supposed to do about it. Could I just tell her? Or would I have to do something different? Maybe Alice would know what to do. She knew Bella just as well as I did, and she understood how a girl's mind worked.

By the time I had reached a decision, I was basically finished with my shower. I turned off the hot water and left the warm sanctuary that was the shower. I quickly got dressed and ready before leaving the bathroom to find a still-sleeping Bella.

"Bella, time to wake up," I told her, going over and lightly shaking her arm.

"Hmm, go away," she replied, swatting me away with her hand before she turned back around and continued to sleep.

"Bella, you have to wake up, it's getting late."

"Just five more minutes," she complained.

"You've already had close to twenty!"

"It's too early!" She protested.

"It's past ten in the morning. You're going to waste the entire day sleeping. We have sightseeing to do."

"Don't you mean shopping?" She accused.

"Possibly," I admitted.

"Then I'm staying in bed," she replied.

"How can you hate shopping?" I asked, surprised,

"It's not shopping that I hate. I hate the idea that Alice is planning on spending ridiculous amounts of money on me. Can't I just tag along, or bring my camera with me and get pictures of the sights?"

"No way. There are two reasons why neither of those plans would have worked: one, Alice would refuse to not take you shopping and she would refuse to not buy you anything. She'd probably throw a fit, trust me; Alice's fits are something to be avoided. Two, there's no way I'm letting you wander in a strange city unaccompanied."

"But I've been to Seattle before, and I can read a map. Besides, isn't it my decision on what I want to do?"

"I promise, Bella, we can do more later today and tomorrow. Alice actually booked another day for us."

"Oh, really?" She asked.

"Yes, so there's no rush for you race around Seattle because you are trying to push in as many activities as humanly possible."

"But what if Jasper or you came with me, could I sightsee then?" She wasn't about to give up. I internally groaned, she could be so impossible when she wanted something. It was beyond ridiculous. Although, the prospect of spending the day with Bella without Alice or Jasper interrupting was very tempting. It was wrong, though, because Alice deserved one day with her. It would make things more fun in the long run when Bella was finished because we had something to look forward to tomorrow.

"How's this for a compromise: you agree to go shopping with Alice today without making a fuss, and tomorrow we do whatever you want. We'll sightsee, take pictures, we can even find a boat ride. Does that sound like a good trade?"

"Is that the best I'm going to get?" She asked.

"Yep," I replied.

"Ugh. Fine, deal. Tell Alice not to go overboard."

"I don't believe that was part of the deal."

"Please?"

"I'll advise her, but I won't give her direct orders. It wouldn't be fair for her."

"You are impossible."

"Just go take a shower, Bella. I'll go downstairs and pick us up some breakfast. What do you want?" I asked.

"Can you get me a chocolate chop scone—if they have it—and some orange juice?"

"Will do. Now come on, I don't leave the room until you are out of bed. If I leave, you will probably go back to sleep." I could see I caught her. Her jaw dropped and she glared at me.

"Edward Cullen, you are no fun!"

"Just shower, Bella."

"Fine," she replied, pulling herself out of bed and walking over to her duffel bag and pulled out a pair of dark brown khakis and a pale blue short sleeve shirt with a white halter top to go under it. I smiled at her as she entered the bathroom. I waited until I heard the shower turn on before I left the room to go down to Starbucks.

The walk to Starbucks was quick. There was one right down the block and I was able to get what Bella wanted without trouble. For myself I got a white-chocolate mocha (AN, I always forget what Starbucks offers year round. Lately, I've been going every week, but I always order the same thing: peppermint white-chocolate mocha. It's the best drink ever) and a banana-nut muffin.

The woman behind the counter was flirting endlessly with me and it annoyed me to no end. She was at least five years older than I was.

"So do you live here? I've never seen you come in here before," she told me, smiling seductively.

"No, I live in farther up state," I replied.

"Do you need someone to show you around? I know this area _very_ well," she explained, attempting to smolder at me. I wanted to be sick. This was beyond ridiculous.

"No thank you."

"Are you sure? I don't take no for an answer." This girl would not give up! I have to think, how could I get her to back off?

"Um, I'm afraid I'll have to decline, see, I'm here with…um…my…girlfriend, Bella. My sister, her boyfriend, Bella, and I are here for a few days before we start school back up." I hoped that with that lie that Bella was my girlfriend—no matter how much I wish it were true—would get her to back off.

"It's okay, I can keep a secret," she purred.

"No. I will say it a million times until you finally comprehend it. I care about my girlfriend; you shouldn't be trying to get me to cheat on her. Please, give me my food and let me return to my hotel." I was on the verge of begging. This was beyond ridiculous.

"Fine, but if you get bored, here's my number." I could feel my jaw drop in shock. She just wouldn't give up! I just needed to get out of this place. I needed to get back up to the safe haven that is Bella's and my room. Everyone will get a kick out of this story. I always seem to have the weirdest people chasing after me. I could only hope that Bella wouldn't be offended by the fact that I lied and said she was my girlfriend.

I rounded the corner to the hotel and headed back up to my room where Bella was waiting. When I finally got upstairs, she was finishing up with brushing her hair and she looked absolutely beautiful. I had to once again fight the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her.

"You ready to get this done with?" She asked, taking the food from my hands.

"Yeah, come on, let's go," I told her, taking her hand in mine and pulling her towards Alice's room with me. We hadn't even left the room when Alice bounded towards us with a visibly huge grin on her face.

"Ready to go?" She asked with more excitement than I would have thought possible.

"Not at all," she replied.

"Come on Bella, it'll be fun! Now stop moping and let's go! The malls are calling my name. I can't ignore them, can I?"

"Ignoring is what you should do, Alice. No good can come from this," Bella explained.

"You are a huge party pooper. No matter, you're coming anyway," Alice said, closing the argument.

I sighed and took Bella's hand in mine as we headed out to the elevators and back downstairs with Alice in the lead. I wrapped my arm around Bella, letting her know she wasn't alone.


	12. Interrupted

Chapter 12:

AN, I am happily back from Italy. I didn't have as much time to write as I had hoped, but I'm going to try to get a couple more chapters out a little bit quicker. I wouldn't hold myself to that, though. Gymnastics meet season starts soon, and I'll be forced to attend those. Ugh.

Chapter 12: Interrupted

BELLA SWAN

It was late last night when Edward went downstairs to meet Jasper. I had already fallen asleep after Edward had helped to tuck me in. It was not long until I lapsed into a tormented slumber.

I found myself in a dark room, the only light that was given came from candles attached to the wall. The room looked almost like a dungeon: windowless, dark, damp, and unnaturally cold. I was lying on the ground, shivering, and waiting for something or someone to arrive.

Turning a bit to my side, I glanced at the dark walls made of stone. They looked wet and dreary. I could not even begin to guess where I was in my dream. It looked like some part of an ancient castle maybe in England, Scotland, or Ireland. Wherever it was, it felt nearly arctic where I was lying. I could even see my breath when I exhaled.

Suddenly, there was a movement out of the corner of my eye. The door that I had not noticed in the darkness of the room creaked open. It looked ancient and _very_ heavy, made out of some sort of dark red wood with wrought iron nails holding it together and a cage around the "peep hole" of sorts.

"_Isabella_," a voice, strikingly clear with a demonic beauty, called out.

"Yes?" Was my meek reply.

"It is time," the voice replied. And then I saw them. The blood red eyes. They were striking against the pale skin that framed them, which was even more shocking against the dark hair. I recognized the face, but I could not place name with face. The person was coming closer, but the darkness of the room blocked out all of his features. All of the sudden, I heard a low growl and felt myself being moved. The person moving me had such cold hands that I could feel them through my clothes and I shivered as he drew me closer. I could not figure out what this person wanted, but I did not even have the will to try to fight back. I felt so weak.

Suddenly, I felt a piercing cut go into my throat, like a thousand knives piercing my skin, coated in hot acid. I tried to scream, but I could not seem to find my voice. It was lost somewhere in the growing fire that was spreading through my veins. There were more knives, cutting my wrists and ankles, and once more on the other side of my neck. I tried once again to scream out in pain, but no sound would come. I was helpless.

The fire was growing, slowly eating away all of my willpower. It was building and growing to the point where I could hardly remember my own name. Was this even a dream? Was this some sort of hell? What had I done wrong? I tried to scream one final time as the fire enveloped my entire body, and then I saw no more.

But I could still hear something. Someone was calling me. It was the voice of an angel, clear and beautiful calling my name.

"Bella?" It called.

_Yes_, I wanted to answer, _I'm here_.

"Bella?"

_Please_, I begged. _I cannot see. I need your help. Something is burning me_.

That was when I saw him. Edward was coming towards me, in all of his beautiful glory. He was literally glowing, like the angel that I knew he was. He was the only thing I could see in a world of black.

"Bella, just hold on, it will all be okay," Edward told me.

_But the pain_, I protested.

"I'll never let it hurt you," he replied, pulling me into his chest. I could already feel better. The tears I had been wanting to shed began to fall freely as I cried into his shirt. "It'll be alright, Bella."

_I know_. I felt his lips pressing into the hollow at my throat, moving up my neck, towards my jaw, pressing softly onto my lips. I kissed him back, with as much force as I could. There was something I wanted to tell him, but I could not place it.

"Bella?" I could hear it, only louder. There was knocking too. My eyes slowly opened. The darkness from my dreams disappeared, along with the Edward whose arms were wrapped around me. It was all replace with the bright hotel room. In Seattle. I was never in that castle, never being burned alive by whatever that was. I was safe.

"Come in?" I mustered my voice, unsure if I was really awake. My dream was so _vivid_.

"Bella, it's me," Edward told me, opening the door. He walked towards the bed, and saw that I had pushed the covers off while I was sleeping. He softly picked me up and set me under the blankets, kissing my temple just as sweetly as he had kissed me in my dream.

Smiling in happiness, I pressed myself closer into the blankets. Now that Edward was here, I was sure I would not have that nightmare again. I was safe.

I heard the bathroom door close and I pressed my face into my pillow.

It was so _obvious_. I was falling hard for Edward. Too hard. How was I supposed to continue like this? He probably didn't even like me. He probably likes girls like Jessica and Lauren, the most beautiful girls Forks has to offer, if you do not dock points for the fact that they have the personality of a peanut.

I would have to tell him eventually. He was nice enough that if he didn't feel the same way—and he probably doesn't—then he won't end his friendship with me. But if he does feel the same way, then I cannot ignore it anymore.

I slowly relaxed as I considered the possibility that Edward might like me as much as I know I do. Sleep began to overtake me as I heard the lock to the bathroom click and the door open.

Edward got into bed next to me as I slowly opened my eyes. He looked so beautiful, even if he was in only a t-shirt and pajama pants with his hair all disheveled. I wanted to run my fingers softly through it.

"Bella, go back to sleep," he told me with a slight bit of anger in his voice.

"I know," I replied, with a slight giggle. "Sleep well, Edward." I could feel my eyelids drooping and I softly fell into a peaceful slumber. None of my dreams made sense but one thing, Edward was there the entire time, never go of me.

The sun was streaming through the silvery courtains that we had forgotten to close. Something was shaking my arm, telling me I had to wake up. But I didn't want to. It was just so comfortable.

"Hmm, go away," I told Edward, swatting his hand away. How dare he interrupt my sleep?

"Bella, you have to wake up, it's getting late," he replied.

I continued trying to convince him to let me sleep later, but he refused to bend. I finally gave up my wheedling and got out of bed to jump in the shower. Edward and I both knew that today would include lots of shopping, courtesy of Alice. All I wanted to do was sightsee and take pictures, but there was no way Alice would let me.

Trying to use any type of power I might have over Edward's decision-making skills, I tried to convince him to let me sightsee, but he vehemently refused when he realized I would be traipsing around town alone. I didn't really mind shopping all that much, but the idea of shopping with Alice and her manic emotions while she's at the mall was not at all appealing to my sanity. I was hoping that maybe some shred of humanity was left in Edward after having lived with Alice that would allow him to convince her to leave me out of the shopping.

None of my begging worked, though. And he refused to let me do sightseeing today, saying that today was Alice's day.

We finally compromised where I would undergo forced shopping with Alice but Edward and I would have all of tomorrow to do whatever we pleased—which sounded horribly appealing. I liked the idea of spending the entire day with him. Or maybe it was the fact that I was starting to fall increasingly hard for him. I was not completely sure what I would do when I got home. All I had to hope was that he felt the same way…but judging by those numerous kisses of ours, I believe he does.

Giving up completely, I gave Edward my breakfast requests before turning around and pulling out my clothes for today's events out of my bag. I heard a slight chuckle from behind me as I turned and walked into the bathroom. I permitted myself one glare at him before I shut the door to his annoyingly gorgeous grin. Quickly turning on the water, I jumped into the shower and began to go through my daily cleansing routine—trying my hardest to ignore the fact that I was still in a hotel room with Edward. And the fact that my parents did not know. I'm not sure how my mom would feel. She wasn't exactly all for heavy dating or even light dating before I turned thirty, after she and Charlie got together when she was only eighteen and she got pregnant and gave birth to me.

There was a brief period of time when she threatened to leave Charlie because she disliked Forks immensely. But it was obvious she loved Charlie too much to break his heart and they compromised that once a year, we would spend a month over the summer in a sunny place of her choosing. Usually, I would go down for two or three weeks with them, but then return to Forks to stay with Billy and Jacob Black on the Quileute reservation, insisting my parents needed "alone time" and we all knew what that meant.

I continued with my showering, quickly finishing up and getting into my clothes. I turned to look at the mirror as I put on my little amount of face treatment that I actually did and began to brush my hair. Looking at my reflection, I wasn't sure what Edward saw that he liked in me. Maybe it was the fact that I was a spastic and could hardly walk sometimes. Or maybe it was the fact that Alice later told me that he saw me in my lovely dark bra. No, Edward was not like that. There was something about me that drew him in, or something. Yes. That's what I would have to tell myself, to stop myself from losing my mind.

I was finishing up my hair when Edward walked in. He gave me my food, which I quickly began eating as we walked to Jasper and Alice's room. Edward looked at me slightly as we walked and I knew I would have to ask him about those sly looks later. He can act so funny sometimes!

We found our way to Alice's room and she quickly bounded out, using her excuse that "the malls were calling her name." I had to resist the urge to snort and roll my eyes. She just ignored me and looped her arm through Jasper's as she skipped to the elevator and began her incessant bouncing while she waited for the elevator to arrive, obviously anticipating the events that were sure to follow. I withheld a groan that threatened to expel itself.

Edward saw my obvious annoyance and slipped his arm around my shoulder. It was a simple, but very sweet gesture and I very much wanted to pull him to me and kiss him and never let go. And that was not an urge that I received too often. To be truthful, that would basically be never. Although, there was a time when I considered feelings for Jake, but those quelled quickly. We would never be more than brother or sister, and for that I was thankful.

We quickly left the hotel, with Alice in the lead as Edward recounted his tale of the annoying Starbucks lady. His events were once again obvious as we passed Starbucks and the lady saw him and winked and blew a kiss to him. I had to stifle my glare, but it still slipped out. She looked confused for a moment, before smiling smugly to herself. I looked at Edward with a confused look that he quickly understood.

"That was the part I didn't want to tell you, I'm sorry, Bella. I kind of, um…told her you were my girlfriend. Are you horribly angry with me? I'm sorry if my actions were unforgivable," Edward pleaded.

"No, that's fine. I'm not sure why I reacted like that. Maybe it's a reaction to the chocolate," I offered. Alice let a soft giggle release itself before she once again composed herself and continued walking in the direction of the mall.

I groaned and followed. I might as well get this over with.

The first place Alice stopped at was Abercrombie and Fitch. I had to stifle another groan. I liked the clothes here, but they were all so _expensive_…and then the shirtless models. Of course, none of them were anything compared to Edward. Edward was basically an Abercrombie add on his own.

Of course, that was the wrong place to allow my mind to drift to, because the image that decided to show itself next was my memory of a very beautiful—and very shirtless—Edward. I could just feel the excitement pool in the pit of my stomach.

Alice wasted no time at all, quickly rushing through the store and pulling random items of clothes into her arms as she continued to make her way through the store. She ended up with two _huge_ piles of clothes for me to go through. Of course, the model-like people who ran the dressing rooms were less than happy with her large amount of clothing.

Looking horribly put-out, Alice quickly looked around for some way to get me to try on these clothes. I was thinking that maybe, if I couldn't try on the clothes, then Alice could quell the urge to buy them. But she saw that look on my face and quickly ended my happiness by one simple sentence: "If you don't try them on, I'll buy them all!" I shuddered at the thought of the bill, and ignored the bickering in my mind and went for drastic measures. Although I would hate myself for what I was about to do, I had to do it. Otherwise, Alice would buy out all of Abercrombie and Fitch and it would be all my fault. And the guy who worked at the dressing room. So instead, I smiled alluringly at the guy who worked the dressing room, who also happened to be exceedingly attractive—although, nothing to the almost inhuman beauty that Edward possessed.

"Listen, I'm sorry about my friend," I purred to the poor soul in my attempt at a sultry, sexy voice, that was sure to be ridiculously idiotic. I half expected him to call me out on it, but he seemed completely allured. I could see it in his smile as he took in my appearance. "Could you please let her get these two _overly large_ piles into my dressing room so I could try them on. I promise all I'll be doing is trying on clothes. _Please_?" I was almost begging by that point.

"Oh, erm, yes, of course. I guess because it's a bit slow today, you can take in your piles. I'm Travis, by the way. And you didn't need to try and flirt, although I do applaud your skills. But I have a fiancée, actually," Travis admitted.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! If I had known—" I began, but he didn't let me finish.

"It's fine. Besides, your boyfriend looked like he wanted to cut my head off during your speech," he replied.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend, we're just friends," I replied. Thank god Edward and Jasper were not within ear shot when I whispered this to Travis.

"Looks like he wants to be, though," he replied.

"Thanks. I don't know, things are so funny, sometimes. Then there's Kennedy…" I sighed.

"Another admireror? Ex-boyfriend, maybe?" Travis asked.

"No…well, everyone thinks he likes me. But he just freaks me out a bit."

"Why?" He looked puzzled.

"Because there…something…about him, I guess. Like his purple eyes that look almost red and the fact that he's so deathly pale, and he moves with this almost inhuman graceful lope, and the fact that sometimes he acts as if he does not belong in this age, and also the way he looks at me. Like I'm something he wants to win, or eat, or something," I explained. It was so weird that I was explaining this to someone I had just met!

"You know, there's someone I knew who sounds like that. There was a boy—I never learned his name—who came to live in my town for a brief amount of time with his family. He left shortly after a boy in our neighborhood went missing. Of course, there were many other of these in surrounding neighborhoods. He did have such odd brown eyes, too…almost burgundy."

"Yeah, Jake, one of my best friends tried to convince me and Edward that Kennedy is a vampire. I think it's ridiculous, though. Edward seems to believe it."

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but never underestimate the world. It conjures up the weirdest things sometimes. For all you know, Jacob could be right. Hey, listen, you might want to get to trying on clothes, but I would like to keep in contact with you. Here's my number," he told me, scribbling his number onto a slip of paper and handing it back to me.

"And the fiancée?" I asked, half-joking, half-serious.

"The not-boyfriend?" He returned with a smile.

"It was nice talking to you, Travis. I'll definitely keep in contact with you," I replied, turning and entering into my dressing room. Why was it everyone believed Jacob?

I finished up my piles, choosing as few clothes as I could, but enough to know that Alice wouldn't kill me. We quickly paid and I said goodbye to Travis as we left to the next place. Alice dragged us into a very beautiful-looking boutique where she forced another large pile of clothes on me. Only this pile included dresses and jeans and other designer clothing.

I had just gotten through an eighth of the pile when my phone began ringing.

"Hello?"

"Bella!" Jacob's voice greeted me on the other end.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"There's been a problem. I need you guys to come home ASAP," Jacob replied.

AN, okay…I know this chapter took so long to write. But I tried to make it really long and not dwell too much on the events that happened in the last chapter.

I've also started another story, to write when I'm bored. I'm about 4 chapters through. At this point, I'm not going to put it up until I'm at least 8-10 chapters through it. It's called Stay Golden, at this point. Here's the summery, tell me if it sounds good: Bella Swan is an award-winning gymnast from Forks, Washington, who just got offered a place on the Worcester Academy competitive team. She leaves for Worcester hoping to use this new team as a way to make it to the World Championships. But what she doesn't expect is that she'll meet the very gorgeous and very unavailable Edward Cullen, her assistant coach who just happens to be dating Lauren Mallory, the head cheerleader. As love blooms between Edward and Bella, Bella has to come to terms that this World Championships she is hoping for will not be easy to reach at all.

Input is appreciated!


	13. Problem

Chapter 13:

Chapter 13: Problem

BELLA SWAN

"What is it Jacob?" I asked. I could hear the intense worry in his tone as we spoke over the phone.

"Something happened—I cannot get into details right now because it is neither the time nor the place, but we need you home. Your parents and the Cullens are down in La Push as we speak. This involves them, too." The panic was evident. I _needed_ to know what happened. What was going on that had everyone freaking out so much?

"Alright, I'll tell Alice and we'll get home as soon as we can. I'll keep you posted, okay?"

After hanging up the phone once I finished my conversation with Jacob, with his announcement that Alice, Jasper, Edward, and I would have to return as soon as we possibly could, I quickly put my clothes back on and picked up the items I liked. Alice would pitch even more of a fit if we left the store without buying anything. I knew Alice wouldn't like this. She wanted to get in as much shopping as possibly could, and her trip had just been cut short by some catastrophic event that had occurred in the Forks/La Push area.

Alice would be pleased with my decisions, anyway. I chose one of the most beautiful dresses I had ever seen, which was a strapless navy blue dress with a bodice beaded with small, silver beads. I also chose a pair of True Religion jeans and a pair of Citizens of Humanity jeans, knowing I would make Alice happy. She had tried to force a pair of Sevens jeans on me, as well, but I told her how my mom had bought me a pair last year. There were two things she forced me to buy, one being a new water-proof dark brown—called dark umber—cashmere pea coat, and the other was a burgundy tunic mini-dress to wear over jeans or with leggings.

I slowly opened the door to find Alice waiting outside my dressing room, with her decisions all together in one huge pile in her arms. She smiled dazzlingly at me as she took my clothes and I knew I had to tell her about the change in plans.

"Alice…" I began. I was not sure how to tell her.

"After this we have to go to that lovely swimsuit store down the corner. I saw a bikini that I must have. Oh, and we must go to that shoe store that I saw on our way. Those silver strappy heels I saw would look perfect with your new dress—" Alice continued, but I had to interrupt her.

"Alice, there's been a change of plans. We have to get back, I'm sorry." She turned to me with a shocked look on her face, a billion questions raging in her sapphire-colored eyes.

"Jacob called me. There's been an accident or some other type of catastrophic even back in Forks or La Push. He told me he could not go into details at the moment, but we had to get back. You parents and mine are safe in La Push for the time being, but we have to go. Please," I begged. I knew Alice would want to stay in Seattle, but I hoped that she would understand the severity of the problem at hand and agree we could leave.

"Yes, of course. And you're not just making this up to get out of shopping?" She asked.

"No, of course not. This cuts into my sight-seeing, too, Alice," I reminded her.

"Yes, of course. Edward, Jasper, there's something I need to tell you," she called out to Edward and Jasper and they were in the dressing room area a moment later.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Jasper asked her, pulling her into the protective shield of his arms.

I was slightly jealous of the way Jasper handled Alice, not that I was jealous of either of them. I was merely envious at the fact that the two of them had such a close relationship and he visibly loved her. Of course, I did think I saw that look in Edward's eyes sometimes—when he looked at me. I was probably being ridiculous, though.

"Bella, you tell them. You know more than I do." She turned her sad eyes to me, begging me to tell her that I was just kidding and everything was fine. She was hoping that I would tell her everything was okay and it was all a huge joke. I took a deep breath and began.

"I just got a call from Jacob. He said something happened back home and he needs us to return. He didn't specify what happened, but he did tell us that we need to get home," I explained.

"So you don't know what happened?" Edward asked, pulling me closer to him.

"No. I only know that it was bad, I'm sorry," I replied.

"Let's go, then. We should get back as soon as we can," Jasper said, pulling the pile of clothes out of Alice's arms and to the register where he paid.

After we finished up getting the bags and leaving the store, we got frozen yogurt to appease Alice because we were cutting her shopping trip short. She kept telling us that she was okay and she only wanted to get home to find out what was wrong, but I could see that small, disappointed glint in her eye that begged to be returned to her shopping trip.

We all piled back into the car to return to Forks and Jacob, where he would hopefully clear up our questions.

The ride was silent, I sat in the front with Edward, where he pulled my hand into his and played with my fingers, stroking them slightly. I turned to smile at him, but he saw the troubled look in my eyes so he leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"It will be okay, Bella, you'll see," he explained with his beautiful, velvety voice.

I looked out the window for the rest of the trip, thinking of worse case scenarios of what I could and couldn't live with.

I could feel my heart speed up as we entered into Forks. I was almost afraid to find out what news was awaiting our arrival in La Push. Edward's voice broke through my worrying when he asked how to get to La Push.

I began to explain the route as he took each turn that would lead us to our destiny.

I was staring absently out the window when I saw a slight movement that caused my eyes to glide to its location. I almost thought I was seeing things when I suddenly saw Kennedy's pale, angry face in my window. It wasn't his usual face, either. There was something different. His eyes were red. His face was only in my window for a millisecond before it once again disappeared and I screamed. It was as if he was been running with the car before disappearing into space.

Edward slammed the breaks and turned to look at me. Alice and Jasper seamed shaken up, as well.

"Bella? What's wrong?" He asked with urgency in his voice. I tried to answer, but I could hardly form the words. I was scared stiff.

"He—he—I just saw Kennedy. He _appeared_ in my window for a minute before he disappeared. His eyes were red," I replied. I must be insane; I thought to myself, there was no reason as to why I had seen Kennedy running with the car.

"We're almost to La Push. It will be okay, Bella," Jasper soothed. I could feel myself calm down with his soft voice.

Within two minutes I could see the familiar houses on the edge of La Push. We were almost there. I continued trying to calm myself down as I continued instructing Edward on how to get to Jacob's house.

He finally made the last turn that brought us to Jacob's small house where he lived with his father and his two sisters when they visited.

I saw Jacob quickly opening the door to the sound of the rapidly approaching car. He bounded out of the house toward Edward's car as he pulled into the drive and turned the car off.

"Bella!" Jacob called.

"Jake, please, tell us what happened!" I pleaded. Jacob looked around him and then back at the house.

"Okay, just not outside. We have to go in. Billy will be able to explain it better, anyway."

We quickly followed Jake into the house where I recognized many faces, including my family and Edward's family, as well. Everyone was speaking in hushed voices to each other and my mother jumped out of her sitting position and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, I'm just happy to see you," she told me. I could see in her eyes that no one had told her anything. I looked to Billy with questions raging in my eyes. He replied with a look that stated that the information was for only the Cullens and me.

Once everyone was ushered out of the room, Sam and a few other boys who lived in the area entered the already-crowded room. Billy told us all to take a seat because what he was going to tell us would be important.

I was hardly aware of the fact that Edward had pulled me into his lap and was resting his chin on my head. I reveled in the warmth that his embrace gave me as I turned my eyes to Billy.

"Something has happened, something we were not expecting," Billy began.

"Obviously we weren't expecting it, Billy," a boy—I believe his name was Paul—said.

"Paul." Sam's low voice was harsh and full of authority as he chastised Paul.

"Are you all familiar with our legends?" Billy asked. We all replied with varying forms of "yes".

"Well, there has been a disappearance in a nearby reservation. A small girl, Lillian Hayes, has gone missing. There has been no blood shown, but it is believed that she was taken by one of the cold ones," Billy stated.

"I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with us?" Jasper asked.

"The young vampire has been trying to get into Forks, and I do believe your family has been oriented with vampires already," Billy replied.

"What?" Edward exclaimed, standing up.

At this point, Carlisle walked in. He had an air of authority to him as he made his way into the center of the circle.

"I do believe I have some explaining to do," Carlisle began.

"Please," Edward replied.

"You see, I befriended a family of vampires in London when I was young, and they kept watch over me before I moved to America. They promised that whenever I needed help, they would come. I have just called them recently and they promised that they would make their way down here if needed. They have been corresponding with you, Billy, or am I mistaken?" Carlisle explained.

"Yes. Although we are very much against what they are, these friends of yours are very civilized and they do not hunt humans. They have promised that they will come if and when they are needed," Billy replied.

"Why does it matter if they correspond with the Quileutes?" I asked.

"Because, Bella…well, how do I say this? The Quileutes—well, some of us—are werewolves," Jacob told me.

"Of course," I replied wryly. "Are you one, too?"

"Yes." I could feel the anger and fear seep into my mind. Anger for the fact that I had no clue what this world held. And fear because I was afraid of the power that the vampires obviously had. Why was Kennedy trying to get into Forks?

"So what is the plan?" Alice asked.

"You stay in La Push for the night. The pack will protect you," Billy explained.

I no longer wanted to listen. I wanted to forget. How was it a world that housed so many great things could have also allowed something like this to happen? If vampires and werewolves existed, then what else was waiting to be found?

I knew I had no reason to be freaking out nearly as much as I was. Billy promised that we would be safe, but I was afraid for these wolves—my family. If Jacob and Sam were wolves, then that must have meant that the other boys in the room were wolves too. Hadn't I noticed how much Jacob had changed when I saw him this afternoon? He looked like he had aged ten years.

"I'll let you all go to your rooms, now. Sam said you all could camp out in his house. His mom said she would prepare dinner, as well. Is that alright?" Billy asked us.

We all replied with agreement as Jacob led us out of the room to get out sleeping bags.

The walk to Sam's house was not long and I felt oddly safe with Sam in the front and Jacob in the back, leading us to safety. I leaned into Edward's arms as he softly wrapped them around me.

It wasn't before long that we saw Sam's home on the edge of the woods. It was a small, cozy, wood house. It was painted a robin's egg blue color—obviously the work of his mom—and had a lovely light yellow fence around the border of the house that matched the color of the shutters.

Sam led us inside where we quickly laid out where we were going to sleep. I put my sleeping bag next to Edward's and we walked into the kitchen where we could smell the food. Leah Clearwater was in the kitchen, as well, and she was wrapped in Sam's arms. I could hear her talking about how excited she was that her cousin, Emily, was coming to town.

Sam's mom announced that dinner was served and we all began to eat. I could feel Edward's eyes on me as I ate my fried chicken that was made for us.

We all made simple small talk and told stories as we lost track of time.

Before we knew it, it was getting late and we had to be getting ready for bed.

I followed Alice into the bathroom where we changed out of our regular clothes and into our pajamas. I was brushing my hair when Alice said, "Edward said he wanted to talk to you."

"Hm?" I asked.

"He said he wanted to talk to you when you were done. That you were to meet him out front."

"Oh, okay," I replied, my heart beating in my chest. I drew my hair into a messy ponytail and turned to smile at Alice. "All done."

I quickly walked out onto the deck where Edward was sitting on the swinging patio-bench, facing the setting sun. The glow that the sun put off made him look almost ridiculously beautiful and I had to resist the urge to run back inside and hide.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked.

"Yeah, listen, there's something that I have to ask you," he replied.

"Oh, sure," I said, and sat down next to him, drawing my legs into my arms as I curled into a ball so I could face him.

"I know this is probably horrible timing and all and we've only known each other for about a week, but I really like you, Bella. I like you a lot. And I was wondering if you would consider maybe being my girlfriend, or at least going out for a date. If you don't feel the same way, it's fine. I just…I need to know because of all of this…insane stuff…that's going on. I need to know if you care about me as much as I care for you," he gushed. He began to continue before I lost all control of my mind and body and I pulled him into a kiss much more passionate than the first one we had together.

Part of me was afraid we were rushing, but the other part was so happy that he wanted me the same way I wanted him.

We continued to kiss until breathing was necessary and we had to pull back. But even then, neither of us let go of each other. I simply changed my positioning and leaned my back into him as he rocked us as the sun continued to set on this crazy day. Little did I know what would await me within a few days' time.


	14. First Date

AN, sorry for the delay

AN, sorry for the delay. I had an AP test and then SAT this past week (June 7th) and everything got hectic. I want to try to finish this up sometime this summer so I can continue Stay Golden and start posting and maybe start outlining another story I thought of.

Chapter 14: First Date

BELLA SWAN

The feeling of Edward's lips on mine was amazing and I went to bed in such a daze that I hardly realized what was going on. It wasn't until I felt someone shaking me that I realized that I was not alone.

"Huh?" I asked, as the person shaking me started calling my name.

"Bella, snap out of it!" Jacob's voice said.

"Jake? What is it?" I asked.

"What happened?" I couldn't help but notice the excitement in Jacob's voice as he questioned me.

"Edward told me how he felt. We are dating now, I guess," I replied.

"God, finally. I was wondering when he'd finally get the guts to tell you how he felt."

"What?" That confused me. Was it that obvious that Edward liked me? Did everyone know but myself?

"We were all making bets as to when Edward would finally make his move," Jake replied.

"_Seriously_?" I hissed. "What was _your_ bet?"

"I said twenty for him asking you within the week. I was obviously right."

"What were the other bets?" I was going to kill whoever had bet on my love life. This was so _infuriating_.

"Well, Jasper and Alice agreed with me. Something about how you can never bet against Alice. Rosalie said Edward was too much of a wimp and would wait a month. Emmett said, and I quote, 'Edward doesn't have the balls to make a move on Bella, even though they are practically an old married couple. I think we'd have to get him drunk first and throw Bella into some small black, lacy number and lock them into a room with a bed together. Then they'll finally make a move. Otherwise, I bet fifty it'll never happen.' As you can tell, he was a bit crude."

"I'm going to kill him. And what about Carlisle and Esme?"

"They chose to politely refrain from the festivities of sorts."

"Of course. Hey, Jake, I'm a little tired. Do you mind if I go to bed?" I asked, already yawning.

"Yeah, sure, Bells. Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."

I watched as Jacob walked away and I turned to look back at the living room where we would be sleeping. Alice and Emmett had already gotten their sleeping bags out and were whispering to each other. Rosalie was sleeping next to Emmett and Jasper had just walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water and three Klondike Bars. Edward had already gotten our sleeping bags out and was currently reading while chewing on his own Klondike bar.

"Hey, guys," I whispered as I walked over.

"Finally!" Emmett exclaimed loudly, causing Rosalie to stir.

"Emmett!" We all hushed in harsh whispers.

"Sorry," he replied. "I just heard that our little Eddie here finally made a move on you. Are you two going out now?"

"Emmett, yes, we finally got together. And I _think_ we are going out," I replied, shooting a look at Edward.

"Bella and I are going on a date tomorrow," Edward amended.

"And where is said date?" I asked.

"It's a surprise, you'll find out later," Edward explained.

I glared at him. "I hate surprises."

"Well, I believe you'll like this surprise, Bella."

"What time is it?" Jasper asked, breaking the glaring fest that Edward and I were having.

"Eleven forty-five," Alice replied. "Why?"

"We should get to bed. We don't want to sleep too late," Jasper replied.

We all heeded his advice and got into our respective sleeping bags, each next to our loved ones. I snuggled closer to Edward and he wrapped his arms around me lovingly. We were no longer worried about the friendship lines that we had been blurring the past few days, not that we were ever really on the "friends" side. We had practically skipped straight from friends to something much more.

"What time do we have to be up tomorrow?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. I have the day planned for us after noon. I believe I heard Sam's mom say she was going to make Belgian waffles and something about Leah's cousin coming to visit town in two days. We might be able to meet her. I heard from Sam that Emily is apparently one of the nicest people he had ever heard of, according to Leah," Edward explained.

"Alright. When do you think we will be able to go home?" I asked.

"Billy and Carlisle have decided on the week. The wolves are going to watch the boundaries and try to catch anything they can. They want to stay away from Forks at all costs to avoid any suspicion or cause any panic to the civilians. And their presence might also cause the vampires to act much quicker," he replied.

"Are thinking it is whom I'm thinking of?"

"If you mean Kennedy, then yes. He reminds me a bit of the vampires that my dad told me about, the ones who didn't drink human blood. Only Kennedy most likely does drink human blood. It—" he trailed off.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I don't believe I've ever told you about how I ended up with Carlisle and Esme," he explained.

"What do you mean?" I was confused. I knew he had been adopted, but I didn't know there was a story involved.

"I was very young, and my parents and I were living in Chicago at the time. There had been a series of murders, but we didn't think any of them were connected. The odd thing about the murders was that the crime scenes were never messy. The people just simply lost all of their blood or were burned entirely. We were out one night, and we came upon the murderers. I never got a chance to say goodbye. My parents told me to run and sent me to Carlisle.

"I never got a chance to see the killer. I can only remember his bright red eyes. And his youth. He was so young, too young to be murdering everyone.

"Once I went to Carlisle, he understood what had happened, and I could tell immediately that he almost knew what had killed my parents. But we never really talked about it. He never even really mentioned those vampires, only a few times would he talk about them. He told us something about being sworn to secrecy and Italian vampires who were basically vampire royalty and kept the existence of vampires secret."

"Wait," I paused. "I remember reading a myth about Italian vampires one time. I was looking up vampires a while ago because I was curious, and this one group of Italian vampires came up. It was something that started with a 'V'."

"Volturi!"

"Yes. That was it. Do you think they know about the wolves?" I asked.

"I'd hope not. We can't have them killing off Jacob and his family," he replied.

"I know. This is just so freaky. Why couldn't the world be normal? No vampires, no werewolves, just normal, like movies."

"Because people aren't supposed to know about the secret happenings of the world. That is the reason for the existence of the Volturi," Edward reasoned.

"I wish everything were normal. I wish I had never known about the vampires," I whimpered.

"That's not true. I know they say, 'ignorance is bliss', but it's not! Isn't it better to know something than grow up in the dark? Just think, no you know about a whole other world existing within our lives."

"Yes, that is true. Do you think everything will be okay?"

"Yes," he replied, but I could see the insecure promise in his eyes. None of us were sure what would happen, if we would all live through this. I wish our safety could be promised. If I could keep Edward and our families safe, I would sacrifice anything to do so, whatever the cost.

"Calm down, Bella. I'm here, everything will be okay. As long as we are together, everything will be fine," Edward soothed. I wanted to tell him that he couldn't promise that, but I knew my argument would fall on deaf ears. He would try his hardest to quell my fears and make everything better.

"Why don't you think Jacob ever told me about his being in a line of werewolves?" I asked.

"I don't think he would have been able to. You would have stayed ignorant until there was some reason to tell you. The world is not supposed to know about the existence of mythical creatures. Do not worry, Bella. Whatever the reason, you know that whatever happens, Jacob will always love you."

"Thank you. Good night, Edward."

"Goodnight, Bella. Sleep well, may no nightmares come to you." His lips caressed my forehead in the lightest of kisses.

I relaxed and lay down next to him, basking in the warmth of his arms. I just had to convince myself that everything would be okay. He began to hum an unfamiliar tune as I continued to relax in his arms, slowly falling asleep.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of warm waffles and soft laughter from the kitchen. Edward was still fast asleep next to me and I quickly got up as to not wake him.

I tiptoed to the kitchen where plates were stacked on the table next to a large platter of steaming waffles. Jacob, Sam, and Embry were all sitting at the table eating their breakfasts and Quil and Paul had just walked into the kitchen through the back door. I could see Leah's dark, long hair as she made her way up the walk behind Seth and another boy I could not recognize.

"Morning," I whispered.

"Morning, Bells," Jacob greeted.

I pulled up a seat and began to eat my breakfast as the rest of the Cullen children came in and began to eat.

The rest of the morning passed quickly in a bit of a frenzy as Alice tried to get me ready for my date with Edward. It was sunny for once, although still a chilly sixty degrees outside. Alice forced me into a pair of dark wash, tight boot-cut jeans and a dark red cashmere sweater. She did, however, allow me to wear my favorite black converse with the silver designs I had made on them because she said Edward made her promise to let me wear shoes I could walk in.

She put my hair into a complicated French braid and then sent me on my way. I met Edward on the stairs and he led me outside. I did notice he was carrying a backpack, which he said was part of the surprise.

Taking my hand in his, he led us to a small trail where we began our walk to wherever our surprise was.

The walk did not take all that long. We were mostly quiet along the way, although it was no an uncomfortable silence. It was very peaceful. Only once did he have to catch me when I tripped.

I did however sense a presence around us while we were on our walk, like someone was watching us. I found myself looking around every once in a while, to see if I could find what it was that I was feeling. There was nothing, though, and I quickly brushed it off as paranoia.

After about an hour of walking, we made our way to a clearing on the edge of one of La Push's famous beaches. It was a beautiful grassy spot with a lot of trees surrounding it and may small streams that seemed to lead to the ocean. I marveled in the natural beauty of the area, seeming to forget Edward was there.

As I continued to spin around, I didn't see Edward inching closer to me, the backpack now on the ground and empty. I didn't realize that his arms had circled around me until I noticed his proximity and felt his lips press onto mine.

At first I was surprised. It was only momentary until I replied back with a force unlike anything I was used to. We just stood there, kissing, until we finally broke apart, gasping for air. He took my hand once again and had me sit down in his lap as he showed me what he had brought for our picnic date.

"I'm sorry for the lack of originality," he apologized as he showed me the food he had packed.

"What do you mean? A picnic is wholly original," I replied.

"I would have loved to take you to a restaurant. But we are on house arrest," he explained.

"But I hate it when people spend money on me. I like the idea of a picnic," I replied.

"Well, I'm glad you like it," he stated, wrapping his arms more firmly around me.

"So tell me something I don't know about you," I began, feeling the need to ignore that feeling of something watching us.

"I think that you are adorable."

"Not about me, I already said about _you_."

"This is me thinking that you are adorable," he replied.

"What do you want to do after college?" I asked.

"I want to be a children's neurosurgeon." He said it simply, like there was no more thought he needed to decide.

"Wow, really? Why?" I asked.

"Because I feel like I can change a child's life more than I could help an adult. I want to help make families whole again. I've heard enough stories from my father to know what happens when children are sick and need help. I've heard what it does to families. And I hate the idea of a child hurting."

"I like your reasoning," I replied.

"I've put a lot of thought into it. Up until this summer I have volunteered in the hospitals where my dad has worked, helping out in any ward that they need me in. Although I always request the children's ward. You should come with me one day," he explained.

"I'd like that. I like the idea of helping children."

"What do you want to do after college?" He asked.

"I'd like to either be an editor for a paper or some other publishing company or be a high school English teacher. I love anything literature-related," I explained.

"You'd make a very good literature teacher. But I could definitely see you as an editor for a large company like _Speak_ or _Little, Brown_. You'd be good at that," he replied.

"Thank you."

We continued to talk like that for hours. We talked about anything and everything we could think of. We sat out there until the sun started to go down and the chill started to rise in the air.

We started to pack up and head back home. I still could not shake the feeling that there was something or someone out there with us, watching our every movement. I knew I was afraid it was Kennedy, or something related to that. But I kept trying to tell myself that my fear was irrational. It was the calm before the storm, though. I knew something was going to happen and it was going to be bad and some decisions would have to be made.

I could not help the fear that came over me as Edward and I were walking back to Sam's house.

What if there was some piece we were missing? Nothing seemed to fit in. If it were Kennedy that was trying to get into Forks, then why was he trying so hard? There must have been something that we could not think of. Some reason for the vampires to be running around Forks. They had not been there for that long. It was only recently that they had been causing any problems. Jacob had believed they wouldn't cause any harm to us. Why now would they be acting?

I couldn't bear to think any more on it. I didn't want to worry about the possible danger that could be waiting for us. But the sun was setting and I was becoming more alert, more prepared for whatever that was coming.

It was at that moment that I knew that I was falling in love with Edward Cullen. I was falling quickly and irrevocably, and no matter what happened from that moment on, I knew it would change the both of us forever.

AN, Yay! Chapter 14 is done. I'm going to try to tie this up soon, since I managed to get to the point where I want to be. I have two new stories going in my head. I need help deciding which one I should post. Here are the summaries:

_Stay Golden_ – Bella is an award-winning gymnast who has transferred to Worcester Academy to be on the gymnastics team and prepare for the World Championships. It is there that she meets the very beautiful and very unattainable Edward Cullen who just happens to be dating the head cheerleader, Lauren Mallory, and is also the assistant coach to her gymnastics team. Bella and Edward have an automatic attraction and sparks begin to fly. Tensions ring highest when the school holds a masquerade ball and Bella and Edward share a very romantic kiss, only to find out who they are when the clock strikes midnight and they remove their masks. What will Bella do when she must decide on her career in the gymnastics world? Is true love enough to compensate?

_105.1 Seattle Radio_ – Bella Swan, who is dating Mike Newton, and Edward Cullen, who is dating the entire female race, have gone to school together for years. They all shared the same friends but hated each other. Bella thought Edward was too egocentric and did not have any respect for the female race. Edward believed Bella was a know-it-all and thought she was too self-sacrificing. When Bella needs another job to help balance her college tuition, she gets a job at the alternative rock station run by the university. It is the perfect job with only one drawback: Edward Cullen is her coworker behind the mike. Bella and Edward must begin to hash out their differences or be kicked off because they cannot get along. One day, a snow storm knocks out the power and blocks them from leaving the station, and Edward and Bella realize how alike they are and how much attraction they share. It is only when Mike proposes to Bella that Edward must make a move and Bella must decide whom she loves more: her long-term boyfriend or the guy she thought she hated who ended up being everything she had always wanted.


	15. The Kidnapper

**AN, sorry for the horribly long wait. I had typed this up over the summer, but it was so short that I didn't want to publish it until I had a longer chapter written. Of course, then senior year started and I got awful writer's block and I literally had no time. So while I was on vacation, I started typing again and I was able to come up with two more chapters! I also dropped my AP Spanish class, which was eating up a crap load of my time. But please, read and review. Because reviews make me happy and make me feel like writing isn't just wasting my time, not that I don't love to write anyway. But still.**

Chapter 15: The Kidnapper

KENNEDY TRENTON

I had been watching them for days now. Well, Isabella, to be exact. I refused to call her _Bella_ like everyone else who knew her. Even my own _parents_ refused to call her Isabella. They felt that it was part of her character, who she was, that made her Bella. I was convinced that Bella was the name for a simple human, not a ravishing vampire, like Isabella would be. Isabella represented the woman that _Bella_ really was.

She was everything I was looking for in a mate. I had everything planned out perfectly. I would get Isabella to come on a walk with me and I would tell her how I felt, how I wanted her to spend eternity as my mate.

Of course, she would agree and we would run off to the old manor that the rest of my coven was convinced we needed. It would come in handy for this, though, because no one would be able to hear my sweet Isabella undergo the painful change to becoming a vampire.

Once she finished the change we would begin practicing her control because we couldn't afford yet another attack on a city. We already had to answer to the Volturi. Originally, they had threatened to "take us out" because my coven and I were causing difficulties, but then they discovered my useful power of shape-shifting. I was the only one in my coven with a power. My coven leaders—my so-called parents—had no power whatsoever. They were all miserable weaklings. They relied on me for everything, it was pathetic. Of course, they resented me for my power. They thought I was too powerful. They tried their hardest to make us a family. They were probably the nicest people I had ever met, but the whole coven idea was not for me. I considered joining the Volturi for that reason exactly. I wanted my powers to excel and bring awe.

At one point, I had considered luring my sweet Isabella out using my shape-shifting abilities. For all she knew, I could be that loser Alice Cullen, or her brother, the idiot, Emmett Cullen. Or if I really so desired, I could be that despicable, mate-stealing _Edward Cullen_. Oh how I hated him. I had called Isabella as my own the second we moved into town, the second I spied on her while she was in her house on the phone with some pathetic human friends. I was biding my time to make my attack, to win her for myself. That was three days before the Cullens even arrived. But no, the Cullens came and Isabella was automatically swooning over that pretty boy.

It was hardly fair. Cullen was no vampire. He could not shape-shift like I could. He was not immortal or all-powerful or inhumanly beautiful like _I _am. He was just Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, the one who got away from me.

I was really surprised to see him, after all these years. Back when my coven and I lived in Chicago. We were the culprits behind the series of murders that occurred. One of these murders was the murder of Edward Cullen's parents, or Edward Masen as he was then. I had originally planned to finish him off, but he got away. I was too busy eyeing his very delicious-smelling parents. Besides, who would have thought that I would find him all these years later, with the girl I coveted? I should have finished him off the day I saw him at the water park. But that would have caused attention.

Of course, my little slip up by not killing him has caused far too much attention and I must act now, and get Isabella without things getting messy.

Things would have been so much easier if she hadn't chosen to get involved with that Cullen boy. But who said I wanted easy? A challenge is always better. I just need to get Isabella to come with me. That can't be too hard. I saw her eyeing me that day in the water park. She probably just didn't feel like she knows me well enough.

Things would be simple enough to get her. All I have to do is convince her to run away with me. I had considered shape-shifting to look like Edward and then have him break up with her, but that would leave loose-ends. There were certain aspects that couldn't be solved by doing that. I would have to do it the easier way, which would involve scaring Isabella out of any other decision that she had made towards her future with Cullen. Even a dimwit could tell that they were meant for each other. If I didn't act soon then there would be no way of ending their relationship unless I killed him, and that would be too messy. My only option would be for her to come with me.

Maybe I could get Cullen to forfeit his blood for me. That would be very nice. But also unlikely and extremely unnecessary, as well. I could always set a newborn Isabella out against Cullen. She would drink from him so fast he would only know that his beloved Isabella had turned cold and killed him without mercy. Now that I thought about it, I liked that idea much more.

Even as I'm running through La Push, dodging the wolves, following Edward and Isabella on their "date," I couldn't deny that they had a large attraction. It was like everywhere he moved, she moved with him. They were like two magnets, constantly together. Impossible to separate.

I would have to act soon. Maybe not tomorrow. I would have to give those wolves a bit of time to believe I had stepped out of their territory, and then I would have to take action,

I knew Isabella realized something was going on. She kept looking around, as if she could sense me. But the silly girl probably thought she was going crazy. What a silly little goose she could be. She was so adorable sometimes. Adorable and beautiful and innocent. There was no one I wanted to spend my life with more than I wanted to spend it with her. She would be my Isabella, my love, the woman I would waste eternity with.

All I had to do was act. And I had the perfect plan.


	16. The Decision

Chapter 16: The Decision

BELLA SWAN

The weeks passed quickly after my and Edward's date. I was rapidly falling in love with him, and it was only so long before I was going to break and tell him. But I didn't want to ruin what we had if he didn't love me back, if he wasn't sure that what we were sharing was worth the fight. What if he realized I wasn't worth the trouble? I knew it was unlikely; I could see the happiness and possibly love the showed in his eyes whenever he looked at me. But I still couldn't shake that bad feeling that something awful was about to happen. Every evening I would sit out on the front porch and look out and try to figure out what to do next. I didn't know how long this would last. How long could Kennedy possibly go circling Forks? Of course, from what Jacob had been telling me about werewolves, that he was allowed to pass off, at least, that Kennedy could go on forever. He only had to stop to hunt once in a while.

The rest of his coven had disappeared soon after we left Forks for La Push. Jacob and his pack said their trail had disappeared into the ocean off the Oregon Coast. They would have followed it farther to see if it reappeared if it weren't for the fact that the Oregonians were getting a little weirded out by huge horse-like wolves running around their coast. I had only seen Jacob in his wolf-form once, when he was running security checks around Sam's house and then back towards my house in Forks.

We were all following the same schedule while we were staying with Sam. Every day was the same. We would wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, sit around and read, maybe watch television—we would try to watch the news when Emmett wasn't in the room, eat lunch, go for walks while the wolves ran patrols around us, eat dinner, watch more television, and finally go to bed. The monogamy of everything was driving me crazy. Edward tried to take me out on other dates again after our first one, but we could never find enough privacy or peace of mind. However, I was perfectly happy sitting next to him with his arms around me as we sat in the porch swing, reading.

He continued to sleep with me in his arms, although his parents did not care, anyway. Esme swelled with pride every time she saw us enter the room. She was just so happy her son had someone to be with. I couldn't help but feel guilty, though, because I was the reason her entire family was in danger.

Our constant schedule was interrupted the day that Leah's cousin, Emily, came to visit us. Leah and Emily knocked on the door just as Sam and Jacob were coming back from one of their patrols, with Embry and Quil yelping in the backyard as they went for their turn. Leah and Sam exchanged a quick hug and kiss before she introduced him to Emily. It was then that I noticed the look in Sam's eyes as he looked into Emily's eyes for the first time. It was almost like the look that I give Edward when I see him every morning and every time he walks into a room. It was that worshipping look, that he would do anything for her. Suddenly, he broke from her eyes and bolted out of the room. Edward looked at me, confused, before Leah went to go talk to her boyfriend.

She came back half an hour later with tears in her eyes and a bitter look on her features as she ran out of the room. Later that day, she made her first transition into a werewolf. Jacob said it was her anger at Sam that caused it. It was also her anger that caused Sam to lash out at Emily, all accidentally, and caused long scars along her face. Sam felt terrible for it, but it was what brought them together. Leah threw her heart and soul into the searches, both hating and loving her new werewolf life, because of the escape from the pain that it brought her, but also the window into Sam's thoughts that she now had. She acted far more bitter towards everyone now, always lashing out and spewing her mean opinions to everyone within a ten-foot radius of her.

It was weeks later, while we were all still getting used to the new shift in the household that Edward and I went out on another, more important date. He set a small picnic for me in the backyard and we lay down next to each other as we watched the stars. He scheduled our date at night, for reasons unknown to me, of course, so we could star gaze. He said he had something important to tell me and I was not sure what it could be.

"Bella?" He asked as we were lying on the blanket he had resting on the ground. I was facing him and he was running his fingertips along my back.

"Yeah?"

"I know we haven't been together for very long, and there are these insane events that have been going on, and all, but I feel like I've known you for so much longer. I have felt the greatest joy in my life waking up next to you every day, spending long hours with you just reading because your company, alone, makes me smile and glad to be alive. And I need you to know that I love you, that I could never love anyone more than I love you, and I want to be able to tell you everyday for the rest of our lives. I know we are probably still too young to be making any final decisions, but I still need for you to know that I love you and I will always love you. I will try to never let anything happen to you because I couldn't stand for you to be hurt. You are my life now."

"Edward…that was the most amazing thing anyone has ever said, but shouldn't you be waiting until we are back in reality. This place isn't very real, just hiding out from society," I tried to reason. It wasn't that I didn't love him, because I did, with every fiber of my being, I did.

"Bella, stop trying to talk me out of loving you. Do you love me or not?" His bright emerald eyes bore into mine as I quickly tried to reassemble my thoughts. How did he _do_ that?!

"Yes, of course I love you. I always will love you. I've never loved anyone so much in my entire life. What kind of question is that?"

"That's all I needed to know," he replied before pulling my face to his and kissing me with all of the power he had, slowly making me forget where I was as his lips continued to brush against mine. I was so elated that I could hardly breathe as I met his kisses with as my passion as I could muster. He actually loved me! I could hardly think the words without erupting in squeals.

Edward could almost sense my excitement; apparently, because he threw more into his kisses at he pulled me to him with more vigor. I was starting to forget how to breathe as he continued his worshipping of my lips. We continued like that for what felt like hours until Jacob started making wolf-whistles by the door. I slowly broke from Edward, giving him small, loving kisses, before I pulled away completely and took off one of my converse sneakers and threw it at him. It hit him square in the jaw, although it appeared to have done no good. Instead, he gave us this big, wolfy grin, before muttering something about a pms-ing girl and walking into the house.

"Not that I'm complaining, but was that entirely necessary?" Edward asked, kissing my forehead.

"No…not at all. But it felt good to do. Someone needed to set Jacob in his place. He can't go around wolf-whistling at random girls and not expect any consequences," I replied.

"You need to control that temper!" Jacob shouted from the house.

"You need a girl, mate!" I replied, quoting _Pirates of the Caribbean_.

"You need a life if you are quoting _Pirates_ to make fun of me," Jacob joked.

"But at least I have a boyfriend who _loves_ me. What do you have? A bunch of wolf buddies and a lonely hand **(AN, sorry, I had to. Ignore my sick mind)**."

"Aw, Bells, not funny!"

"Bella, let's leave poor Jacob alone," Edward reminded me.

"You are only saying that because he's another guy. Just to remind you, he also interrupted that very lovely kiss you were sharing with me," I replied. I was about to continue before Edward pulled me into an equally passionate kiss, making me practically forget my own name.

"I hope that made up for what you missed," he added, before pulling me into another breath taking kiss. "And that."

"Love birds, really! I have something to tell you all," Jacob interrupted.

I turned to glare at him but then I saw that look in his eyes that made the glare freeze up as quickly as it started. That look said something was much more wrong than just him dealing with Leah's usual bitterness and Sam's own self-hatred towards mutilating Emily.

"Jake, what's wrong?" I asked.

"We caught a fresh trail," he replied, with a fearful look in his eye as he looked at me with that protective brother stance.

"Was it from the coven leaders?" Carlisle asked as he entered the area. Esme was close behind him and shared the same concerned look he had.

"No. It was Kennedy. He's getting closer," Jacob whispered.

"No! We are going to lock her in the house. Keep her away from harm. He must never get near Bella. Not my Bella," Edward growled.

"Edward, we are all worried about our loved ones, but he may not even be after her. We will not know for sure unless he comes out to say it," Carlisle reasoned.

"He cannot get near her. I saw that look in his eyes when he looked at her. She must stay safe. Please, Carlisle." Edward had collapsed on the ground at his father's feet, practically begging him to find some way to protect me. I was almost paralyzed with fear as I watched Edward do all he could to protect me, but I knew it wasn't fair to everyone else. No one should be protecting me.

"Edward, it's okay. He probably doesn't care about me. It will be okay. Please," I begged him.

"Besides, a locked door would not deter a vampire from what he wants," Carlisle reminded him.

Edward reluctantly agreed and we all filtered into the house so we could eat dinner and return to the daily routine.

It was close late when we finished dinner and made our way to the TV room. I sat on Edward's lap as we watched some random awful Lifetime movie. It was about a teenage girl sleeping with the wrong boy and getting pregnant. We fell asleep on the couch and I woke up a few hours later with a full bladder and the need to empty it.

Disoriented, I walked to the bathroom. It was a relief when I left only to have my heart go pounding in my chest when I saw a figure waiting outside the window.

I knew I should probably step away from the window and run and get Sam and Jacob, but I wasn't sure if it was someone else, so I got closer to the window. I was wrong. It was Kennedy. He gave me a look and beckoned to the door. I considered turning and getting Jacob and Sam, still, but he gave me a look with those violet eyes of his. The look could have sent me to the grave if looks could kill. I had no choice so I went to the front door and inched it open and walked out into the cool summer air, to my fate.

"Isabella, you don't realize how hard you made tracking you down for me," Kennedy sneered.

"Yes, um, sorry?" I squeaked, unsure of how to respond.

"I have been waiting for you for a while. I knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you in that water park, wearing that tantalizing swimsuit. I want to take you with me. With me, you can be immortal, be my mate and we can live forever in the ever-constant night together," Kennedy told me, looking toward the couch, where Edward was sleeping peacefully in the dark.

"I can't. I'm sorry. But, I love Edward. I can't leave him," I replied. And it was true. I just found out he loved me. I couldn't leave. It would be like having my heart ripped out of my chest and burned.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that, sweet Isabella, because you wouldn't want me to harm Edward. To forcefully take him out of the picture, would you?" He threatened. "You don't know what I am, what I am capable of."

"No! You can't! Anything but that, please," I begged.

"Yes, I can. And you didn't answer the second part. Do you know what I am?"

"Vampire," I spat. "You are a creature of the night, a monster. You kill people for food and enjoy it."

"But if you say no to me, you will have no forever. You and Edward will die side-by-side as my meal. Or I will kill him and let you watch. You have two choices, let him die or let him live and you come with me forever," he reasoned with an evil glint in his eye.

"I love him," was all I could say. All I could think of was Edward's green eyes, the look on his face as he said he loved me. I hardly even realized Kennedy had begun to speak again. I quickly listened in.

"How about you get him out of the picture. I don't care how, just do it. Make sure he doesn't follow you or I'll have to take care of him. And you wouldn't want that, would you?" He asked.

I thought about it. I could never live in a world where Edward didn't exist. But the idea of not even being with him was almost enough for me to still tell Kennedy _no_. But I knew that if I said that word, no, to Kennedy, it would be the end of Edward's life. And there was no place for me in this world if Edward didn't exist. But I could continue to exist if Edward did. I needed him to have a place here so I could go on living, or whatever else vampires did. I had to do it.

"Okay," I told him. "I'll do it."


End file.
